The Unintended Truth
by Gaara's Devil
Summary: What if Itachi had a lover that wasn't a part of the Uchiha-clan, and therefore not killed? What would happen? ItachixOC, DeidaraxOC, SasorixOC. Rated M for later chapters. Read and review!
1. I

**A new story from me :D I hope you like it! And if you do, please review! Hey! That rhymed!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Naruto characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto (All hill thee!)

**Claimer: **I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko along with the plot of this story.

* * *

**The Unintended Truth**

**Chapter 1: The acceptation and the sorrow**

Pein looked at Itachi who tried hard to not look away. _He is leader, all right,_ he thought. Itachi had just entered the organization. He had to join this group to be able to check on Sasuke from time to time. And Hina. "I've heard a lot about you, Uchiha Itachi," Pein said. Itachi didn't say anything. "And you've proved that you won't let bonds interfere with orders," he added. Itachi still didn't react, no matter how those words stung.

"I and Konan, my partner, have decided that you will join us in this organization," he said, and Itachi nodded. "Your partner will be Hoshigaki Kisame from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Pein added and pointed towards the shark-like man in the corner. He smiled a weird smile and raised a hand. Itachi nodded towards him as well. Itachi wasn't really the speaking type, and neither was he social. "You're dismissed," Pein said, and Itachi walked out of the room, followed by the shark.

* * *

In Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke was lying on the hospital. His eyes were open. He'd just run outside to his home, to find… well … nothing really. Nothing was there anymore. He'd lost everything. He had been picked up by his traitorous brother's girlfriend, Hina. She hadn't said anything during the time. She was now sitting on the side of his bed, looking into the wall. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her cheeks were wet.

Sasuke didn't do anything about it. He was too shocked. His brother. His own _brother_. Uchiha Itachi had killed his family, but left Sasuke alive. Why? Because he wasn't worth killing. He was no threat. A nurse came in. "Here's some food for you," she said and gave Sasuke a plate. He took it, but didn't eat anything. The nurse looked helplessly at him. He didn't care. He didn't look at her.

Hina looked up. "Sasuke," she said. Her voice was hoarse. "Eat," she said simply. He didn't do anything. She turned to him. "Do I have to force-feed you? Because I wouldn't hesitate," she said. The nurse coughed. "What?" Hina snapped at her. "Is there something else you wanted to give us?" she said. The nurse shook her head, and walked out. "Come on, Sasuke. Just eat," she pleaded. Sasuke looked shocked at her.

Takahashi Hina never pleaded. Now she was sitting on Sasuke's bed and looked like she could die from sorrow, and _pleaded_ Uchiha Sasuke to eat. He grabbed a spoon, and took a bite. Hina smiled, but her smile was even worse than her non-existent look. Then she rose. "I'll be back in an hour, and if that food isn't gone, and you're not here, I'm gonna kill you," she said and left. Sasuke looked at the door with empty eyes.

* * *

Itachi was sitting in his room, reading, or if you dare call it that, but didn't know what the book was about. He had been reading the first and same sentence five times without getting anything except the shocked face of Sasuke. And it hurt. Kisame then walked in.

"Now, I want one thing to be clear. I won't call you Uchiha or Itachi-san. It will only be Itachi. You will call me Kisame. End of it," he said. Itachi looked weirdly up at him. "So you're not the social type, eh? Well, that's fine. I can just go talk with … Damn, no one here is talkative," he said thoughtfully. "Ah! Hidan!" he said and left.

Ten minutes later Itachi heard: "Get your fucking fish face out of my fucking room, for fucks sake!" Two minutes later Kisame appeared. "He wasn't particularly talkative today, that's for sure," he said and fell onto his bed.

"If you're not going to talk, then keep pretending to read that book for three more minutes," he said. Itachi almost turned in the shock, but that would mean that he had to talk to Kisame, and he wasn't really in the talking mood. He had just killed his own family yesterday! For Kami's sake! And this fisherman wouldn't leave.

* * *

**So, I hope you enjoyed, and please review! :D**


	2. II

**Two chapters in one day :D**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Naruto characters. They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Claimer: **I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko, along with the plot of this story.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The decision**

Hina was sitting by the river where she first met Itachi. She dried her eyes, but they kept filling themselves with tears in less than a second. She then rose and jumped into the river. She was under the water. Her brown hair was spread around and followed the wave's movements. She kept sinking down, but she held her breath. She had control. She knew what she was doing when she was under the water. She loved the water. It was special. It guided her to realization.

This was when she realized that it was possible to cry underwater. Then, after about ten minutes, she swam back up to get some air. Not because she needed it, but because she liked the smell of the air when she had been in the water. She didn't need air because she was a water-user. Not the jutsu thing, but the real deal. She could control water, she could make water, and she could breathe under water.

When she got up again, Sakata Ami was standing by the river-bench. Hina smiled to her but Ami just rolled her eyes. "Have you any idea of how horrible you look?!" she shrieked. Hina looked down. Then she swam over to the edge. "I'm sorry," she said. "For what? It's not your fault, is it?" Ami asked. "I knew something was off," she explained.

"But you could never guess that he wanted to kill his _own_ family! Then you'd have to be psychic," Ami said. Hina didn't say anything. She needed to talk to Okinawa Chieko. She always had her meanings, and they were almost always right. Hina jumped out of the water. "I'm going over to Chieko," she said and Ami looked at her. "I'm coming with you," she said and Hina nodded. They walked silently over to their other best friend.

* * *

Sasuke looked up as another nurse came in. "Oh, it's good you've eaten all your food," she smiled. He didn't do anything. Only looked madly into the wall. He had now entered the hatred period. The period which wouldn't ever go away. No matter what, it wouldn't disappear. He lay down on his back and looked up into the roof. _Where is Hina? Do I really have to wait for her? Oh, right. She'd kill me if not. A perfect time to say something like that, because right now, I actually believe it_.

* * *

Hina and Ami walked into Chieko's house as she opened. She looked at Hina with a sad smile. Hina ignored it, though. Sad smiles really didn't help, but I guess she was at a loss of better things to do. Because, seriously, there is most likely no such thing as an 'I'm-sorry-your-boyfriend-killed-his-entire-family-except-his-littlebrother-who-was-in-more-pain-now-than-the-other-in-his-family-were,-and-then-left-without-saying-anything' – card.

The three girls sat down in the couch in the living-room. "I don't think he had any choice," Chieko said all of a sudden after a very uncomfortable silence. Hina breathed out. She hadn't believed so either, but she just didn't dare to say anything before someone else did. Normally she did, but not in this matter.

Ami smiled. "Nah, neither did I. I mean, he loves Hina, and he didn't kill his brother," she said, "It's obvious that he tried to protect Sasuke from something." Hina's mood was improving, but Sasuke was still a problem. He wouldn't believe it, no matter what. She knew that. "I'm gonna take care of Sasuke," she said and Ami and Chieko smiled to her. "Of course you will," Ami said. Chieko snickered. "And talking about him, I really have to go check on him," Hina said and left her two C's behind.

* * *

**The 'left her two C's behind' part is the nicknames the girls has for each other.**

**Hina=Crazy  
Ami=Cookie  
Chieko=Cozy**

**Now, I hope you enjoyed, and please review! I'd like to get ideas from everyone :D**


	3. III

**Okay. I have nothing to say… I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Naruto characters, because they belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Claimer: **I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko along with the plot of this story :D

* * *

**Chapter 3: Similarities?**

_Five and a half years later:_

Hina walked down the street to get some food. She wanted Sasuke to get something good the day before he started the Ninja-life. Hina had given up on that life to take care of Sasuke, something he hadn't learned to appreciate yet. She was in the shop when she heard something. She turned quickly and saw Kakashi stand behind her.

"You know that I'm going to judge if they will become Ninjas or not, right?" he asked her. She smiled. "Yeah, I do. Oh, and don't be so hard on Naruto. He might be stupid, but don't try out that 'one thousand years of pain'-thing, okay?" she asked him. He smiled. "Sure," he said, and left. Hina smiled to herself. He was never going to keep that promise.

Neither Hina nor Sasuke had heard anything from Itachi. She was always sad when she thought about him, but Sasuke didn't deserve to know that. He wouldn't understand why she was sad. To Hina's dismay, Sasuke had developed hatred towards his older brother so strong that he now had as goal to kill him. She reached home and saw Sasuke standing by the water and blowing fireballs. She rolled her eyes and walked inside.

* * *

Itachi was walking on Kisame's side towards the Hidden Village of Rain. They had been ordered there by Pein, to meet him and Konan in one of the caves there. Kisame didn't say anything. He was unusually quiet. Itachi was actually getting pretty curious of why he was so quiet. Then he asked: "Why are you so quiet?" Kisame smiled gleefully. "To make you ask that question," he said and started laughing hysterically. Itachi sweat-dropped.

They were then standing outside a cave in the mountain. They walked silently in, and Pein approached them. "Good that you came so quickly," he said and the two men nodded. Konan was standing behind him. Itachi gave her a nod as well. Kisame smiled to her.

"How is it like to live here with Pein? Do you miss us?" he said, and Konan smirked. "Nah, not so much… Had quite the fun here," she said, and then blushed. She was about to say something when Kisame said: "Spare it. I won't believe you anyway." She turned and walked away.

"Why did you call us out here?" Itachi asked. "The Chuunin-exams are only about one month away, and we need to prepare for the whole 'fetch the Kyuubi'-thing," Pein said. Itachi and Kisame looked shocked at him. "The Kyuubi-_thing_? What has she done to you?" Kisame asked in utter shock. Pein ignored him and continued:

"I have gotten some information about Orochimaru, who is trying to get someone from that Village. We still don't know who, but we have a hunch," here Pein stopped and looked at Itachi. Itachi didn't react, but it felt as though someone had punched a hole through his chest. Kisame didn't get what the exchange meant, but he didn't ask either. Then Pein made a hand-movement, and they both followed him deeper into the cave to get to the meeting.

* * *

"How was the training?" Hina asked Sasuke as he entered. Ami was sitting behind the counter, talking with her. Mai was inside the living-room, watching some TV. "It was fine, thanks," he said in a rude voice. "Good," Hina said in an even ruder voice. Ami rolled her eyes. They were always fighting. Mai then came in. "Good timing," Hina said and placed the food on the table. "Always," she said. Chieko wasn't a ninja either. She'd never been one.

Ami, however, was in the ANBU, and often out on top-secret missions, that weren't so secret when she talked to Hina and Chieko. "AH! This is so GOOD!" Ami exploded. Hina smiled. "Thanks Cookie," she said to her BF. Sasuke sat between Ami and Chieko, and looked like he'd rather be on another planet.

"So, are you looking forward to tomorrow?" Chieko asked Sasuke. "Sure," he said. Hina rolled her eyes. "Be a little more ecstatic and the roof will blow off," she said. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You guys are so similar," Ami said, and then smirked at the death-glares she got. "Just my point."

* * *

**If you liked it, or there's anything you want to know, or any ideas, constructive criticism or stuff like that, just say so by pushing the Review-button! :D I'd really like your opinions, and if you don't have any, I get very happy for just some 'Nice story'-reviews as well. Oh! And I delete flamers. Me no likey… ;)**


	4. IV

**Okay, new chapter folks, and I will tell you now: PLEASE REVIEW! And I'm writing it under the chapter as well. PLEASE REVIEW! I can never say it enough. PLEASE REVIEW! It shows me what you like and what you dislike. PLEASE REVIEW! Give me some ideas. PLEASE REVIEW! I might just stop writing on this story, because it's not enough readers. PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Anyways! I am totally labeled as a beggar, right? I don't care. Maybe I'll make a review song :D**

**Disclaimer: **I do not, and never will own the Naruto characters. They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto and they never will be mine. Ever. *sob*

**Claimer: **I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko as well as the plot of this story :D

**I hope you enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: A vision of the past? Or the real deal?**

Itachi kicked the man down. "Good going, Itachi!" Kisame said.

Itachi ignored him and turned the man. "What is Orochimaru after?" he asked in a cold voice.

"More like who," the man harked. The blood was everywhere. Itachi hadn't meant to kick him that hard.

"Who is Orochimaru after?" Itachi asked harsher.

"I don't really know. I saw a picture of him. But I really don't know his name," the man said, and Itachi believed him.

"Then what did he look like?" he asked.

"He had black hair. Black eyes. His hair looked like a dock's ass," he said, and Itachi let him go.

Then he killed him with a kunai through his throat.

"Hey! Were you really gonna kill him?" Kisame asked.

"Yeah. He's seen us. And he knew who I was. I need to keep my location a secret," Itachi said, and Kisame smiled.

"You really are an Akatsuki," he said. Itachi didn't say anything.

He was now thinking of Hina. She had the same brown-colored hair as this man. He could never be compared to her beauty, but just the look of this man's hair reminded Itachi of her, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that he had just killed her.

* * *

"AH!" Hina screamed as Sasuke came home. "Are you a Ninja?" she asked carefully.

Sasuke nodded. "YAY!" she shrieked and lifted Sasuke up in the air and hugged him while turning around. When she put him down, he looked rather flushed.

"That was so uncomfortable," he said, and Hina ruffled his hair.

"Well done, Sasuke," she said seriously. His cheeks turned a bit red.

"How is Sakura?" she said, and ran as Sasuke tried to grip her feet, and then she ran and jumped into the water. _Heh, he knows I'm invincible in the water_.

* * *

The fight lasted for about ten minutes. Now Sasuke was unconscious. She laughed at his babyface as he smiled and hummed on something she didn't know what was. She carried him inside and put him down on his bed. Then she rose up, and would've screamed if it weren't for the shock.

Hina turned around at once, but he wasn't there anymore. She ran outside, but couldn't see him. She fell onto her knees, and once again her eyes filled themselves with tears. He had been so real. She looked up, but Uchiha Itachi had walked out of her life five years ago.

* * *

He had to see them. He just couldn't stay away. He loved them both so much, but they could never love him again, and he knew that. And he was so angry. He wanted to find Orochimaru and kill him. Something he should've done a long time ago. God how he hated that man, and God how he loved Sasuke and Hina.

Why did this have to happen? Why did the Uchiha-clan lust for so much power? And why was he the one who had to kill them? It would've been so much better, had he been one of the dead Uchihas in the family, and someone else would've been dealing with guilt and regret every single second of the day.

* * *

Hina was sitting near the river when Sasuke finally woke up.

"HINA!" he bellowed as he ran down towards her. "What the hell?!"

"What?" Hina asked innocently, quickly hiding her sadness. But not quickly enough. Sasuke saw her red eyes, and he stopped abruptly.

"Nothing," he said. Hina turned to watch the water again. "Why do you shed tears for _him_?" Sasuke spat. Hina turned quickly.

"Be-" she stopped herself from saying anything.

Sasuke didn't do anything as Hina angrily turned towards the river. Her brown hair swung with her movement, and looked just as angry.

"He's gone," she then said silently. Sasuke looked shocked up from his shoes. "He's really gone."

Hina then walked over to the small bridge, and sat down at the end. Her feet touched the surface of the waves. Sasuke walked slowly towards her. He had never been good at the whole comforting-thing.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked her.

"I want you to say that you knew your brother," Hina said. Sasuke stopped moving. "Well, then I'd lie," he said.

"Would you?" He didn't say anything, and after five minutes of total quiet, Sasuke shuffled his feet, and walked back to the house.

"He killed my family," Sasuke said as he disappeared into the house. Hina looked down at the war in the water.

"He killed _his_ family as well," she said and jumped into the war.

**

* * *

**

Okay, gotta say, I got Goosebumps when I wrote the last line. Yeah, I know; I'm weird… But to tell you the truth, I'm rather proud of this chapter. I really hoped you liked it, and please tell me what you like and dislike, from how the structure is to how the content is. I want to thank the reviewers I had (which ain't many…) :D :

_Kuro Shinen Akuma_

**And a special thanks to:**

_Puthetik_**, since you helped me with the structure-thing. I really appreciate it! :D**

**Oh, and I think I said that I didn't want any flamers, but I just realized, maybe I do! At least there are reviews! Besides, I'm a big girl. I can take it.**


	5. V

**A new chap folks! Woho! All in all I've uploaded, what? Four chapters today? Not on this story of course… :D**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Naruto characters. They all belong to their respectful owners, Masashi Kishimoto. (Kami bless his soul, and Jashin, make him immortal!)

**Claimer: **I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko along with the plot of the story :D

**

* * *

**

Chapter 5: Out of perspective

"Kisame, where is Pein?" Deidara asked from behind Itachi.

"He is in the Hidden Village of Rain," Kisame said, "Why?"

"Not your concern, yeah," Deidara said, and then walked away.

"Deidara has been really grumpy lately. I don't think he likes the fact that he got paired up with Sasori," Kisame said to the raven-haired man, who did nothing to respond, except walking over to his room.

Kisame sighed behind him. As Itachi opened the door, a lovely smell could be noticed. Itachi sweat-dropped as he saw the 'I know you like this smell'-note. He turned towards Kisame with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" the shark asked.

"The smell?" Itachi hinted.

"Ah, Hidan has gone after you as well?" Kisame said, "Well, if so, you don't want to know what it is." Itachi shrugged and walked back into the room.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you! Don't be so curious," Kisame joked from behind him.

"It's Hidan's aftershave." Itachi raised both his eyebrows in surprise.

"Why would he use his aftershave in my room?" he asked.

"Check your bed," Kisame said, and walked away. A good thing as well, because when Itachi lifted the cover, it was the first time he had almost lost control of his anger.

* * *

"Hina?" Ami's voice said from beside the brown-haired girl, "What is it?"

"Nothing. It's just Sasuke who is still on the killer-speed," Hina responded. Ami rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, he is pretty stupid. But I guess it lies in the clan," she said.

"Don't let Sasuke hear you say that. He'd kill you," Hina warned and Ami laughed.

"No, he wouldn't have. He couldn't have left a scratch on my perfect face," Ami joked.

"True."

"But why are you upset? It can't only be that, because you're more upset than ever," her friend said. Hina looked down on the bowl of Ramen.

"I thought I saw him," she said. Ami looked shocked at her.

"Itachi?" she whispered.

"Yeah, him," Hina confirmed.

"What? When? Where?" Ami nagged.

"Today, after I beat up Sasuke. It was in Sasuke's bedroom," Hina told. Ami turned all the way to look at her.

"Did you see him in a mirror?"

"Yes, but no, he wasn't a ghost," Hina said while rolling her eyes. Hina and Ami both believed in ghosts, but Ami had a thing for dragging it out of perspective.

"Fine, but it could only be a memory. Did you ever beat up Sasuke, and put him in his bedroom while Itachi was watching?" Ami asked. Hina shook her head.

"It was not legal to 'date', 'love' or 'marry' someone outside of their clan. I never met Itachi's parents," Hina explained.

"Oh, right. I forgot that."

"But forget about that! Let's talk about something else. How are you and guys doing?" Hina asked with a true smiled on her face. Ami flashed her tongue.

"Well, a lot of hot guys here, but most of them are either younger, or like, ten years older," she said. Ami knew that Hina didn't like to talk about guys she liked since she lost the one she truly loved. But Hina loved talking about Ami's likes and dislikes.

They sat there for one hour only talking about boys before they decided to leave.

* * *

Sasuke was sitting in his room, reading in the Ninja education-book. He was reading about ranks, as Hina walked inside and sat down on his bed.

"What?" he asked.

"The ranks don't matter," she said, and Sasuke frowned.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"It only matters who you are inside, and you're not a good person right now, Sasuke," she said and leaned back on his bed. Sasuke rose silently.

"What do you mean?" he asked and stood before her.

"If you ever leave me, Sasuke, I don't know what I'll do," Hina said with closed eyes, trying to press back the tears.

The bed sunk a bit beside her, but she didn't open her eyes.

"You're like my sister, you know. I would never leave you," he said.

"Then why do I find that so hard to believe?" she asked, and a lone tear slid down her face, and disappeared into her hair.

"Because you don't like me," Sasuke said easily, but Hina could hear the hurt in his voice. She sat up immediately.

"Nani?" she asked quietly.

"You don't like me, because I cannot find it in myself to forget what _he_ did," Sasuke said. Hina's eyes then started streaming like a madman.

She wrapped her arms around Sasuke.

"I love you more than you could ever understand, Sasuke! Do you seriously think I would live in this house if I didn't care? Itachi hurt me as well. And this house does nothing but make me feel sad. I'm enduring that for you, boy. Please don't think I don't like you!" Hina said, and she then felt Sasuke tremble, and her shoulder was getting wet.

She held him tighter as he started crying. "I'm not gonna leave you, Sasuke, just as long as you promise that you won't leave me," she said.

"I promise," Sasuke said with a thick voice, but still, Hina didn't believe him. He would leave once, and when he did, she would go find Itachi herself.

* * *

"Hidan," Itachi said in a warning voice, "If you ever pull that kinda shit again, I swear on the Sharingan that I'll destroy your scythe." Kisame 'ooo'-ed in the background and Hidan narrowed his eyes.

"You wouldn't fucking dare," Hidan snarled.

"Wouldn't I?" Itachi asked, "And how would you know that? I killed my clan, and you think I would hesitate in destroying a weapon?"

The dead body that had been placed in Itachi's bed was lying on the floor in front of Hidan. That was the source of the aftershave. Hidan claimed that the mustache didn't 'fit' the man.

"Fine. I never fucking do the same fucking thing twice anyways," Hidan snapped and walked away.

"Have you realized that everyone in the Akatsuki seems to fear you?" Kisame asked, and Itachi walked back to his room, ignoring the question.

**

* * *

**

Okay people! Review and make me happy. Me happy = more chappies! :D


	6. VI

**A new chapter, and I know it's short, but I really didn't have any time for anything else… I might upload a new one just because it was so short by tomorrow, though.**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Naruto characters.

**Claimer: **I do own the OC's.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 6: Leaving**

The whole city was a mess, and everything was sad. Damn that Orochimaru. And Sasuke, who was now carrying the cursed mark. And Hina blamed herself. If she had been more careful, Sasuke wouldn't have gotten anywhere near that wretched snake. And Sarutobi. He was dead. It was simply unbelievable.

* * *

"You will find the kyuubi and bring it here alive. And really soon. I think you should leave now. Do you understand your orders?" Pein asked Itachi and Kisame. The two of them nodded. Itachi was rather happy by the fact that the kyuubi was in Konoha. Especially now that Sarutobi was dead, but he was also rather scared that maybe they would encounter Sasuke or Hina.

"You will not fight anyone there as long as you don't have to. Do you understand?" Pein added and Kisame's big smile faltered.

"No way! We don't get to kill anyone?" he whined, and Pein shot him a glare that made Kisame look innocently at him. "Okay, if you say so leader-sama," he said and left the room.

Itachi nodded to Pein and then walked silently after Kisame. He really hoped this wouldn't be too bad.

"It's too bad that they keep tight reins, otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to kill some random person with a great amount of Chakra," Kisame said, and Itachi nodded slowly, but didn't like the way he said it. His thoughts drifted to Hina.

She had a great amount of Chakra. No wonder really; she could make and control water, just like her best friend, Ami could control and make fire. They were very special in their ninjutsu, since they didn't even use signs, and no Sharingan could detect their movements.

* * *

"How are you feeling, Sasuke?" Hina asked the boy sitting in his bed with a tray of breakfast on.

"Better," he said silently.

Hina knew the day was coming. The day when Sasuke would leave. It was near. She knew she couldn't stop him, and she knew she wouldn't even try. This was his fate. He would not stay here and rot while _he_ was out there somewhere. But she tried to not think too much about it.

Hina walked out of the hospital, and saw in the corner of her eye that Kakashi followed, and stopped.

"How is he?" Kakashi asked as he reached her.

"Horrible," she said numbly.

"Is the cursed mark giving him problems?" he asked, and Hina shook her head.

"He is just totally consumed by hate," she said.

"Well, can you blame him?" Kakashi asked, and Hina raised an eyebrow.

"We still don't know the truth," she said.

"You can't seriously hope for a positive truth anymore, Hina," Kakashi said in a disbelieving voice.

Hina narrowed her eyes. "Why ever not?" she snapped, turned on her heel and walked away.

"Sakura … Arigatou," Sasuke said and hit Sakura so she fainted. He then lifted her up and put her on the bench next to the side walk, before he walked out of the village.

"So, you really were coming?" one of the idiots asked him. Sasuke didn't even bother to answer. He thought about Hina. About the note lying on the kitchen-desk. Then the five persons left Konoha, and for Sasuke, it seemed to be for good. He would never return.

**

* * *

**

Okay, so I hope you liked it, and please review! It still makes me happy! :D

**You know you love me!**

**XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	7. VII

**So, I uploaded one at once. Hope you're happy! :D**

**Disclaimer: **I do not, and never will own Naruto or any characters inflicted with this anime.

**Claimer: **I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 7: Joining them

Imagine the feeling where you just know something is wrong. That you just _know_ what's gonna happen next. Well, Hina was feeling that feeling when she woke up the next day. She closed her eyes and a lone tear slid down her face. "He's gone, isn't he?" she asked into the room. She walked slowly out of the bed, and on the counter a note was lying.

_I left and I am not sorry. I have to avenge my clan. I hope you will understand that. However, I am sorry that I could not keep my promise. I will miss you. Thank you for everything. For helping me in every way possible. I really do appreciate it. Goodbye_

_-Sasuke._

Hina looked down at the letter and read it many times, until the words were burned into her mind.

"So, we're leaving?" a voice said behind her. Hina turned. Ami and Chieko were standing there.

"What are you doing here? No, scratch that. What do you mean?" Hina asked.

"You promised yourself that when the day came that Sasuke would leave, you would go and find Itachi yourself. You didn't honestly think we would let you go on your own?" Chieko said. It was silent for a small amount of time.

"Cozy, this is not some kind of joke. You're not even a ninja," Hina said eventually.

"But I am an excellent tracker," Chieko said.

Ami smiled. "Crazy, you're our friend, and we're not bailing on you," she said.

Hina rolled her eyes. "This isn't about bailing on others. This is my problem, and I'm gonna fix it myself, okay?" she said, and the two girls shook their heads.

"No chance," Chieko said.

"Na-ah," Ami said.

Hina rolled her eyes again. "Girls, I'm not saying that you can't come with me," she said.

"Great," the two girls chimed.

"I'm telling you to stay behind," Hina finished.

"You've known me for a gazillion years, and you seriously think I'll let you go to the world's worst band of criminals without me?" Ami asked incredulously.

"Seriously?" Chieko asked.

"Oh, fine! But we're leaving tonight," Hina said, and the two girls high-fived and left.

Hina sighed as she heard the door close. _Okay, I'm ready, and heading out the back door, so they won't see me_, she thought and walked into the room she stayed in and grabbed the bag on the floor. Then she left the house. When she got to the gate of the village, she just walked straight through it without as much as looking at Izumo and Kotetsu.

Then she rounded the turn and saw to her shock and annoyance that Ami and Chieko were standing there.

"How did-"

"Like I said; a gazillion years," Ami interrupted. Hina couldn't help but smile, and the three girls set out for the journey.

* * *

Itachi looked up from the book he was reading as Pein entered the room.

"We have new recruits. They are very good, but declined to show the powers to anyone but me. You will all meet down in the base within a quarter," he said and Itachi nodded.

"Understood," he said, and Pein left. Itachi sighed. _New recruits. I wonder how long these will last._

He rose from the couch and walked down to the other room. Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, Kakuzu, Hidan and Zetsu were already there. Konan and Pein were talking silently to each other in the other side of the room. Itachi walked over to Kisame.

"They will soon be here. I heard they're all girls," Itachi heard Deidara say as he passed him and the Blondie had a rather satisfied smirk on his mouth.

"How many are they?" Itachi asked.

"Three," Kisame replied in a low tone. Itachi nodded and turned to Pein.

Pein waved his hand, and three girls appeared from the dark. One was very tall with shoulder-length brown hair and freckles. The other was on the contrary to the tall one, very small with short purple hair reaching down to her chin.

The last one was standing in the middle of the two girls. Her hair was much longer than the others and just reached down to the small of her back. The color was red. Her eyes were intriguing and she looked in Itachi's direction once, and looked like she would choke. She quickly looked at Pein again.

**

* * *

**

Still hoping for reviews! :D

**You know you love me!**

**XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	8. VIII

**So a new chapter is UP! :D Hope you enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any characters or villages inflicted with them.

**Claimer: **I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko, as well as the story's plot :D

**

* * *

**

Chapter 8: The mission

Okay, Hina had to admit that for once, Ami's plan was ingenious. They had used a technique made by Chieko to disguise themselves. It was not something easy like 'Henge no Jutsu', it was the real thing. Chieko hadn't disguised herself, though. Itachi had never met her. Hina was doing the best she could to not look at the raven-haired man, but Lord was that difficult.

"They are all from the Hidden Village of Cloud," the leader, Pein, said. "This is Okinawa Chieko," he said and pointed towards Chieko. "Hayashi Mai," he said and pointed to the little one, "And the last is Saitou Lucia." The middle one nodded briefly.

"Chieko, you will be perfect as a tracker considering your ability, but first I want you and Mai to join Sasori and Deidara and let them show you how we work in this organization. Lucia, you will join Kisame and Itachi-" as he said Itachi's name, Itachi noticed the girl flinch "-to watch them. They will teach you what's worth teaching. I let you stay with them, since Kisame is so good with water, and that is your element, right?" Pein asked and Itachi felt his attention turn to the girl.

_A water-user? Hn._

"So, you're gonna join us for a while, Lucia?" Kisame asked the girl, who walked slowly over to them, avoiding eye-contact with Itachi.

"Yeah, and it's nice, eh, well, to meet you?" she joked and smiled.

"Hm, maybe so," Kisame said and Lucia smiled. The smile seemed strangely familiar, and soon Itachi's thoughts drifted off to Hina.

* * *

"This was a great idea, Cookie," Hina said and took some chocolate from the table in front of them, and Ami smiled.

"Well, duh! What did you expect from me?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Hina asked.

"No," Ami said. Chieko walked out from the bathroom.

"It really takes its toll on my Chakra, though. I think I need to teach you it," she said.

"Okay, if you say so, Cozy. But not tonight. I just wanna sleep," Hina said and Ami nodded in agreement.

"Oh, fine, but tomorrow, it's on," Chieko said and the three girls giggled and went to bed.

"So what do you think about Deidara, eh?" Ami said from her side.

"Already, Cookie?" Hina asked incredulously.

"Well, of course!" Ami said.

"How was it to see _him_ again, Crazy?" Chieko asked, cutting the chase that Ami started. The room went very silent.

"It was … weird. I missed him, you know, and I can't even look at him let alone touch him," Hina said.

"GAH! Too much information, girl!" Ami shrieked. Hina couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

"What do you think art is, yeah?" Deidara asked Chieko, who smiled.

"I don't really like art," she said and Sasori and Deidara fell anime-style.

"Excuse me?" Sasori asked as he regained his composure.

"Well, it is pretty, but not something you can just love. Then it has to be pretty, and not make too big a noise," Chieko said, and Deidara and Sasori looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Well, I think music is art. It lasts for four minutes, but can be replayed whenever you'd like to," she said.

Ami rolled her eyes.

"What about you Mai, hm?" Deidara asked, looking hopefully at her.

"Well, I think that art is like memories. In reality they can last for a second, but you always remember it. You could even play it in slow motion," Ami said, and Deidara and Sasori looked at the two girls, then at each other.

"You can't like both! Pick something! Lucia! Pick something!"

"All right. I'll pick something. For me, art is completely, utterly, definitely a total … _waste of time_!" Hina said and smirked at their shocked faces, and then she left as she saw Kisame and Itachi walk towards her. "What is it?" she asked.

"We've been ordered on a meeting," Itachi said seriously.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Let's talk about it somewhere more privet," Kisame muttered and hinted towards the two boys and the two girls. "Sure," Hina said, seriously curious now.

As they reached a room with no one in it, Kisame turned. "We're ordered to kill the Mizukage," he said and an electric jolt went through Hina's body. "Lu, are you okay?" Kisame asked.

"We are ordered to kill a kage?" Hina whispered, her mouth suspiciously dry.

"Yes, which is why I want you to stay behind. You don't need to be labeled yet," Kisame asked.

Hina looked up at them. "Are you kidding me? Do you seriously think I'll let you go on your own?" she asked incredulously.

The two men frowned.

"Are you sure?" Kisame asked.

"Don't underestimate me, okay?" Hina snapped. She hated when guys did that.

"Okay, okay, if you say so, I'll believe you," Kisame said, and Hina smiled.

"Thanks Kisame," she said.

"Well, the mission starts tomorrow. We'll leave in the morning," fish-boy said

* * *

That night, Hina, Chieko and Ami were talking about the mission.

"Well, maybe they'll only hear your name, and everyone thinks your name is Lucia," Chieko said, and Hina rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but that's not what I care about. Besides, when I joined the Akatsuki, I wasn't expecting to go faithful with my village. I was prepared for this," she said.

"Really?" Ami asked.

"Truthfully," Hina said.

"Oh fine. If you say so, but promise to use your power if it should matter," Ami said.

"I will. No one, including _him_, knows that I am a wind-user," Hina said.

**

* * *

**

Okay, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully a new chapter will be up during Sunday. Please review! And I hope you have some ideas that I can use! OH! AND!!! Here comes a very important thing to say, but only on this day. And that is:

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY HIDAN! 3333**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	9. IX

**New chapter ppz! I know it's short, and I apologize…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the Naruto series.**

**Claimer: I own what's not related to the Naruto series.**

**

* * *

**

Chapter 9: Fish-boy and Raven-dude's scheme

The next day, Hina was going on the mission with Kisame and Itachi. She wasn't really looking forward to it; if Itachi found out what jutsu it was, he would know who she was. She didn't want that. Not yet. She needed to know the truth now, before it was too late, and she needed to talk to him, something she hadn't even begun to do.

She took on the black cloak with red clouds and walked down to the two guys standing there, talking to Pein.

"Leader-sama," Hina said as she reached them and bowed her head ever so slightly.

"Lucia," Pein said and nodded to her.

"So, you ready to go, Lu?" Kisame asked, and Hina raised an eyebrow.

"Lu?" she asked.

"Well, Lucia is just too long to say when you can have _two_ nicknames; Lu and Lucy," he explained, and Hina snickered.

"You're one weird guy, fish-boy," she said, and Kisame narrowed his eyes playfully.

* * *

Itachi looked at the new girl. She reminded him of Hina in some crazy, absurd way.

"Fish-boy?" Kisame asked.

"Okay, your pick; fish-boy or shark-boy?" Lucia laughed.

"Shark-boy," Kisame said with a grin.

"And fish-boy it is," Lucia said and skipped outside, leaving Itachi and Kisame to sweat-drop. "Well, are yah coming?" she asked, and Kisame laughed and the two men followed the redhead.

* * *

They had been running for three hours when Hina stopped abruptly. Kisame and Itachi stopped on the next branch.

"What is it, Lu?" Kisame asked.

"Come back here," she said, and the two of them did so. "We're being watched by something or someone," she said.

Kisame looked around, but Itachi looked at her. "How did you know?" he asked.

Hina raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean; how did I know?" she asked.

"Kisame, relax. It's just Zetsu," Itachi said, and Hina narrowed her eyes.

"Why were we being followed by him? Is it the fact that I'm new? That you wanted to see if I was reliable or not? Is there even a mission?" she asked with small eyes.

"You sure as hell ain't stupid," Kisame said.

"There is a mission, but it's not to kill the Mizukage. We're sent to the village of rain to give the kage a report from leader," Itachi said, dropping the games to Hina's pleasure.

"Good," she said.

* * *

Itachi looked at her as they started running again. He didn't feel like she wasn't reliable. He felt more that she was very trustworthy. She was a weird girl, that Lucia. And something about her just made him want to know more.

* * *

They reached the village by nightfall and decided to take in on a motel. They only took one room as to not draw attention to themselves, but only after Hina persuaded them to do so. They wanted to give her privacy.

"I want to be on the planning, got it?" she had snapped at them, and then they gave up.

"We have to find the Mizukage without the guards noticing, which will be hard. She knows we're coming. Maybe she'll meet us near the river. If so, we're at an advantage, since both of you steer the water," Itachi said, and Kisame nodded.

Hina didn't do anything. She didn't like the fact that they were already relying on her water-powers when she would do whatever she could to hide those powers from Itachi.

* * *

"But we won't kill _her_, right?" Lucia asked, and Itachi looked up at her.

"Not if necessary," he said calmly.

"Fine," Lucia said. Itachi noticed that she seemed rather concerned about the mission.

"We'll do great! She is our ally, and therefore, she will give us the information we seek, even though it's us who comes for it," Kisame said cheerfully.

Lucia smiled to him. "Sure," she said, "but I'm going to bed."

They both nodded and she jumped into the double bed and crawled under the sheets.

**

* * *

**

Okay, so now I have to tell you something very important that makes no sense in this structure, but whenever the texts says 'Lucia' or 'Mai' it means that it's from one of the Akatsuki's POV or something like that. When it says 'Hina' or 'Ami' it means that it's from either Hina, Ami or Chieko's POV, unless it's a flashback in Itachi's past, of course ^^ And I use those horizontal rulers to seperate the different POV's... I hope it made sense. If not, review or PM me.

**I hope you like it, and I know it was short, and maybe even a bit weird. Anyways, if you give me some pointers I'd be very happy ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	10. X

**A new, very, very, very short chapter. Sorry folks, but it was this or nothing. It's kinda just a fill in.**

**Disclaimer: **If you still haven't realized that Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, you're kinda retarded… ^^

**Claimer: **And if you're a fan of the series, I don't think you've ever heard about the characters Hina, Ami and Chieko. That means that those are mine! MOAHAHAHAHAAAA!

**Anyway! I hope you enjoy the very, very, very short chapter!**

**

* * *

**

Chapter 10: The happy times

The next day at day break, Hina woke when the sun hit her eyes. She rolled her eyes without opening them, and turned over, something that lead to her falling on the floor. "AH!" she screamed and heard a movement near her. She sat up immediately, and saw to her astonishment that Itachi was sitting on the other side of the bed, his hair in a mess.

_Flashback_

"Shouldn't you be getting home now?" Hina asked him as he walked slyly over to her.

"I'm sure they can wait a little bit," Itachi said with a smirk.

"Okay, stay back," Hina warned.

"Too late!" he said and grabbed her wrist, turning her over and crushed his lips on hers.

Hina smirked against the moving lips before she started kissing him back. Itachi rested his hands on her hips, but then they travelled a bit up, and Hina screamed when he started tickling her.

"STOP IT! Ita- HAHAHAH- STOP YOU DIRTBAG! GAH! ITACHI!" She pushed him away, and lost her balance, and fell into the grass.

Itachi laughed and sat down beside her. "You're so weird," he said.

"Yeah. Look who's talking," she said.

Then she dragged out his pony-tail and totally messed up his hair. "Hey!" he mock-snapped.

Hina jumped to her feet. "That's what you get for messing with the best," she said and ran before he rose, but he soon caught up to her.

"Don't think you can get away from me," Itachi said, and Hina giggled as he laid his arms around her stomach. He kissed her neck, and then rested his chin on her shoulder.

They stood there for a minute or two, and then Hina turned. "Wait here," she said and ran to her home in her top speed that she almost never used. It was quicker than Itachi's.

As she got back, she was holding a comb in her hands. Itachi smiled and sat down in the grass. She sat down behind him, and started combing his long raven-black hair.

"You should've been home fifteen minutes ago," she said eventually.

"I know. But they can't expect me to always do as told," he said, and Hina smiled.

"True," she said.

When his hair felt like silk, she grabbed a dark-red bond from her pocket and twirled it around his hair in a new pony-tail.

"Thanks," he said and rose with her. "I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Mission," Hina said.

"Oh, well then. See you when we can," he said and kissed her lightly. Then he turned and ran away. Hina looked after him for a while, and then fell back into the grass, smiling.

_End of flashback_

As Hina returned to reality, she rested her head on her knees.

"Are you okay?" Itachi's voice asked her, and she couldn't help but tremble at his tone.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just accustomed to a bed that lies next to the wall," she said.

Itachi's thoughts once again drifted to Hina. She had been on his mind a lot lately. Actually, ever since Lucia had entered the Akatsuki. They had some kinda resemblance.

"Okay," he said and Lucia then rose and grabbed her coat.

"Where's Kisame?" she asked.

"He is out. He rarely sleeps inside a motel. He's probably near a river somewhere," Itachi explained.

"Okay," Lucia said.

Hina walked into the bathroom and fixed her hair in a hurry, and then she walked out to see Itachi form a pony-tail. She smiled absentmindedly, and then walked to get her hairpin that she always kept in a pocket.

* * *

**So, if you liked the very, very, very short chapter, please tell me, and don't hesitate in giving me some things you'd like me to have with! ^^ Just ask! I write this for you, you know! ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	11. XI

**New chap folks! I'm sorry if it took too long… Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Itachi or any other character in this story, with exception of Hina, Ami and Chieko**

**Chapter 11: Emotions**

* * *

Itachi and Hina walked silently to where Kisame's chakra was located. Hina could sense that Itachi was a bit annoyed by his partner's carelessness in chakra control. She smiled to herself as his eyes focused on a stone. That was his signature features when he was annoyed.

She remembered so clearly the day when his father had seen the two of them together. Not the embracing way, but Fugaku could easily see that there was more between the two of them than pure friendship. He banned Itachi from seeing Hina again.

Of course he snuck out under Fugaku's nose. That was something Itachi was very good at. He had been annoyed and the stone on the Sakurafilled field had taken a lot of his attention that day. Hina couldn't help to laugh a bit at his annoyed expression.

"Hm?" Itachi asked her in his walk.

Hina only smiled. "Nothing. I just wonder if Kisame has gotten any new fish-friends," she said.

She noticed the change in his aura and chakra as his eyes softened. Something Hina had been very observing at was what happened in his face when he was happy. Of course he used to smile more than now, but that was only when things were really funny.

They found Kisame by a very large river. "Hey, Itachi! Lu!" he said happily.

Hina smiled widely at him. "Hey fish-boy!" she said with a smirk.

He jumped up and threw her over his shoulder. "What was that?" he asked in a mock-threatening voice.

"Nuuuthing!" Hina said while beating her fists against his back, trying to make him let her down. Her red hair was getting in the way, and sometimes she screamed in agony for dragging them with her fists.

* * *

Itachi's 'inner' was in between laughing and rolling his eyes at the two of them. They were definitely close already. Kisame had always wanted to protect someone from harm, but Itachi had a feeling that Kisame picked a hard nail to protect. Something about Lucia just told him that she could take care of herself just perfectly.

* * *

"PUT ME DOWN!" Hina bellowed, and finally Kisame obliged.

She narrowed her eyes at him, and then punched his arm. And hard at that.

"OUCH!" Kisame yelled irked.

"That's what you get for messing with the best," Hina said and dramatically brushed her hands against each other with evil eyes.

Kisame smirked. "But I have Samehada," he said.

"Oh, I don't need to shave! I did so yesterday. You, on the other hand," Hina joked.

Kisame laughed, and then Itachi walked over to them. "Just don't forget the mission," he mumbled as he passed them.

Hina and Kisame exchanged a look, and the two of them stuck their tongues out at Itachi's back, who noticed.

* * *

Please review, tell me what I can do better, or worse… ^^ Just give me your opinions and maybe I'll add a new chapter real quick! ^^

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	12. XII

**Okay, I'm going soft. I haven't gotten any reviews yet, and I add a new chapter… My oh my… But let's put the blame on the fact that the last chapter was very, **_**very**_** short, eh? ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto characters. They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Claimer: I do own Hina, Ami, Chieko and Rei (well, I kinda don't, but I own her looks. Nothing to be proud of, though), plus the plot of this story.**

* * *

**Chapter 12: The test, part 1**

"She's in here," Kisame said, and patted Samehada.

"She's hungry," Hina said, knowing the friction in Samehada meant that she wanted chakra. Kisame and Itachi looked surprised at her. "What? I'm excellent at reading things like chakras and auras," she shrugged. Kisame blinked, and then turned back to the door.

"Remember, Kisame. We're not here to kill anyone," Itachi said, and Kisame nodded.

"I don't like it, but I know that," the shark said. Hina shivered. He _wanted_ to kill someone? _Well_, she thought, _He _is_ the monster of the Hidden Mist…_

"Who is it?" a happy tone asked through the door as they knocked.

Itachi spoke up. "I am Uchiha Itachi from Akatsuki. I and my companions are here on your orders," he said. Silence.

"I was told a girl would come," the voice said, and it was no longer happy. More like scared.

Itachi frowned and looked at Hina, who smiled. "There is a girl here. My name is Saitou Lucia," she said.

"Can I talk with you in privet, then?" the voice from the door said, and Itachi and Kisame looked like they were about to say something, but Hina spoke up before them.

"Of course you may," she said, and Kisame and Itachi looked shocked at her. She rolled her eyes and pushed past them, feeling shivers go up her spine as she pushed Itachi.

But as she pushed him, she saw something wrong in his eyes. Something she hadn't seen before. Like he didn't care what she did. It hurt. But it wasn't exactly that. But something in his eyes did nothing but show a thing she had never seen in her life.

* * *

A weird feeling hit Itachi as Lucia said that she would go in and talk to the complete stranger. He just wanted to protect her. It was weird. He didn't understand. Then she pushed him to the side, and a shiver ran up his back. Something was so familiar by the touch.

"I'm coming in," she said and didn't bother to wait for an answer.

* * *

The room was very bright, with a _lot_ of pink. She felt a strong perfume-smell and frowned at it. The woman who had been talking was a surprise. By the sound of her voice, Hina had expected a very pretty _young_ woman. Instead it was a very ugly and old-looking woman with grey, short hair.

"I'm glad a girl could come. I don't really trust boys," she said.

Hina smiled; she knew that feeling. "Can I ask you why?" she asked.

The woman smiled sweetly, making her face even worse. The wrinkles seemed to fuse and made them so much worse that without the smile. "You can, but I'm not sure I'll tell," she said.

Hina nodded understandingly. "But I'll ask you nonetheless. Why don't you trust boys?" she asked.

The woman smiled. "You're the only girl who has ever passed that test," she said. Hina frowned, and the old woman continued: "They all ask like you just did; 'may I ask why?' to 'bond' with them, so I might tell them what they want to hear. Then I say that they can ask, but I most likely won't tell. Then they all nod understandingly and go straight to the matter at hand. I killed them all."

Hina looked shocked at the woman. "So it's all just a test?" she asked and the woman nodded. "Oh. But why don't you do the same with the boys?" Hina asked.

"Because they're too stupid to even ask why I don't trust them," the old woman said.

"Okay. That I understand," Hina smiled.

"Can I ask your name, young one?" the woman asked.

"H- Lucia," Hina said, cursing herself to death for almost having said her real name.

"Won't you tell me?" the woman asked.

Hina couldn't help but smile. "It's not you I'm fooling," she whispered and hinted to the door. The woman formed an 'o' with her mouth.

"But what's your name?" Hina asked, realizing she hadn't asked.

"Rei," she said simply. Hina smiled.

"But why are you fooling the Akatsuki? Bad blood? Has one of the members killed your friends, family or anything like that?" Rei asked.

Hina shook her head. "I'm not trying to fool the Akatsuki. I don't care if I'm in that group or not. I just need to know the truth about why a person did what a person did. And if the truth is horrible, I won't hate the man. I'll be faithful to the Akatsuki, no problem there, and I won't kill the person I want to truth from, either. I just want it," she explained.

Rei looked confused at her. "Well, that's all good then. You can go," she said in a confused manner.

Hina frowned, and then she widened her eyes. "You work for Pein," she said slowly.

"Oh! I have to add; very smart, in the report, then?" Rei joked.

Hina couldn't help but smile. That was the thing she had never seen in Itachi's eyes. A lie. They had _acted_ protective.

She rose from the chair she had sat down in during the conversation and asked very silently: "Will you scratch out the fact that I'm gonna attack Kisame and Itachi?"

Rei laughed a squeaky laugh. "Definitely. They're standing just outside the door. Why don't you push them down the stairs? I'll open the door," she said, and Hina rubbed her hands evilly against each other.

Rei walked over and opened the shabby door, and Hina thanked her silently. Itachi and Kisame peaked in. She shot towards them in enormous speed and grabbed their heads and pushed them out the stairs.

"YOU FUCKING MORONS!" she shrieked. Then she turned to Rei. "Thanks," she said.

"I think I'll add speed and some cursing, though," Rei said, and Hina laughed.

"You do that!" she said and jumped down to the boys.

* * *

So, I hope you all enjoyed! And now, I deserve reviews! Two chapters in less than an hour!^^

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	13. XIII

**New chap people! I have, like, four more ready to be uploaded, and I will upload another one today/tomorrow if I get three reviews from three different reviewers on this chap! MOAHAHAHAAA! Blackmail! Gotta love it! ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto and anyone on his team (GO TEAM KISIMOTO!)**

**Claimer: I do own Hina, Ami, Chieko and the looks of Cuza.**

**ENJOY!!!**

* * *

**Chapter 13: The test, part 2**

_Kisame POV_

"Bitches," Lucia mumbled and walked straight past them.

Kisame chuckled nervously and then got to his feet along with Itachi. They walked after her, Kisame with a satisfied smile. He had been a bit scared that she might not have been able to get past even the first question, let alone the faithful task. Lucia was fun. Even Itachi seemed relieved. Kisame looked at his partner, and frowned. He seemed _extremely_ relieved.

* * *

_Hina POV_

As they headed back to the motel, Hina frowned. Why were they going back there?

"Oh, come on, guys! Please don't tell me there actually _is_ a mission?" she whined.

Kisame chuckled. "Yeah, there is," he said.

"What _is_ the mission then?" Hina asked, a tiny bit of rudeness in her voice.

"We have to get an artifact. It is heavily guarded, but not by men," Itachi explained.

Hina smiled. "Oh, okay. I'll let it go this time, but if something like this ever happens again, I might not be so gentle," she said, and Kisame fake-swallowed.

Hina smiled to herself as they kept running, and couldn't help but be _extremely_ happy.

* * *

_Ami POV_

"Here we are," Deidara said to Ami, who smirked at him.

"What is this?" she asked with a weird tone.

"This is where you'll get the information we seek. You need to step inside, and the man inside will help you," Deidara said.

Ami thought about it. Would this be okay? Or would it end in disaster? Whatever. She'd get through it anyway.

* * *

_Deidara POV_

"Fine, I'll go. But only if you promise me that you'll be there when I get out," Mai said with the same smirk, only wider.

Deidara smirked back. "You have my word," he said, and Mai walked into the open gate.

Deidara's smirk vanished when she did. He really hoped she'd get past the tests.

* * *

_Ami POV_

Ami walked straight into the base with no fear. She didn't know why she wasn't afraid, whether or not it was because of her inhuman powers, or because nothing in the oval room was terrifying in any way. An old man then came walking out of the shadows, and the only thing she was scared of right then and there was the looks of the man.

The clothes he wore were close to nothing. His trousers had been cut and barely covered his hips. His visible feet were also cut and very red. The flesh was hanging loosely and were extremely old it seemed. His back was crumpled and sore; the shirt he wore was only hanging on by his shoulders. He had a hunchback. His face was split in two, it seemed. One was filled with abscesses, the other side was non-existent; his mouth disappeared in his flesh. His eye was bulging since his skin didn't protect it.

Ami didn't think it was scary or disgusting in that way. She only felt sorry for the guy, but tried not to show it, since she knew they didn't like pity.

"Hello," she said calmly with a normal smile.

The man smiled back, something that looked more like a grimace. "Hello, young one," he said, his voice very hoarse.

"You've come for information, I presume?" he asked, hinting towards the cave's opening where Deidara was waiting.

"Yes, on the actions of the kage's against Akatsuki," Ami said to him with serenity.

"Think about it," the man said.

"Think about what?"

"Do you really want to know who is after you?" he elaborated.

"Of course. We need to be careful. After all, we're a much sought out group of criminals," Ami said, looking confused at the man.

"What's your name, young one?" he asked.

"It's common hospitality to tell your name before asking for another's," Ami said to him, unable to really trust him.

"My name is Cuza," he said with another wretched smile.

"And my name is Mai," she said with a new smile.

"Mai, why won't you tell me something about yourself?" Cuza asked.

"Eh, sure. I'm nineteen years old, my nickname is Cookie, and my friends also have C-nicknames. I'm very stubborn, and I never give in, unless it's impossible to continue. I hate when people looks down on me, and think I can't defend myself. I have a very strong personality. Anything else?" Ami asked, feeling weird about telling a complete stranger about herself.

"No, that's perfect. You are special, that is certain," Cuza said, and Ami couldn't help but smile. "Now, _that_ was a true smile," he said and Julie snickered. But then she turned serious again.

"Will you tell me what I want to know?" she asked, and Cuza smiled lightly.

"Of course I will, Ami," he said. Ami stopped dead and looked at the weird man.

"What did you just call me? My name's Mai," Ami lied quickly. Too quickly. But how had he guessed just that name? Had the Akatsuki already figured out who they were?

"Don't lie to me. I know very well you, your friend Hina and Chieko, who is the only one who kept her own name. Why? Would someone in the Akatsuki recognize you if you kept your real name? Would they see you were frauds?" Cuza asked.

Ami sighed and sat down on the floor. "You got me. But we're not frauds. We hide our identity from the one who could recognize us, because we need to learn the truth about him," she said resigned.

Cuza frowned.

"A he? That excludes Konan," he mocked, and Ami chuckled.

"I surely hope so," she said and chuckled along with Cuza.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"I can't tell you. It's not for me to tell," she said.

"Then it's about Hina or Chieko?" he asked and Ami nodded. It couldn't hurt to say that.

"Will you betray the Akatsuki?" Cuza asked, his voice grave.

"No. We have no intention of betraying the Akatsuki. We, or I, kinda like it there," she said while grabbing her short, purple hair and pushing it back and knitted it to a bum. Her black eyes looked all over the place, trying to figure out things, even though she kinda already had.

"This isn't about me getting information at all, is it?" she asked and Cuza nodded approvingly. "So, you're just trying to get information out of me?" Ami asked, and once again the man nodded. "Okay, so what else do you wanna know?"

"How deep are you in this battle?" he asked.

"You mean the Akatsuki methods? Well, they haven't caught Naruto yet, and if they do, we won't help them extract the bijuu, but we won't be in the way either," Ami explained. She hated the fact that they were after Naruto. He was such a jolly kid.

"If Pein-sama ordered you to find the nine-tailed, what would you do?" Cuza asked.

"Refuse," Ami said simply, "Even if it ended with my death."

"Then that is something I have to tell Pein. That you won't help in taking the nine-tailed down. He'll probably let that go, and leave the task to someone else," Cuza said.

"I would appreciate it if you told him that, yes. And that goes for Hina and Chieko as well. Well, Chieko wouldn't try to fight them anyways. She'd be too weak. She is an excellent spy, though! I mean it; she found a lost boy who had no Chakra and nobody had a clue of where he was. She followed pure instincts. She's ingenious!" Ami said with an admiringly voice.

"What would she chose? Killing or dying?" Cuza asked.

Ami frowned. "Depending on who it was," she said.

"Say, someone from your village?" Cuza suggested.

"If it was Danzo, killing. If it was any of the others, trying to find a last resort, but if not, dying," Ami said sadly.

"Why?"

"Chieko sees the best in people. And if she can't find it, she tries harder. She has that extraordinary gift, but sometimes she tries too hard. She wouldn't give up before she saw something good in the world's most dangerous person," Ami explained.

"And Lucia? The same questions?" Cuza said.

"If it was Danzo, killing in the blink of an eye. If it was anyone else, she'd do the same as Chieko; try to find a last resort. But if she couldn't she'd have fought the ones as best she could, but only hitting the people unconscious, something she is bloody brilliant at," Ami said.

"Why wouldn't she kill them? The same thing?"

"No, she doesn't try to see the best in people. She tries to see the truth. She always tries to find the truth in someone even if unintended to find out. That's actually why she's here," Ami said, then gasped, "I just said that Hi- LUCIA! Lucia! was the reason for why we were here, didn't I?"

Cuza chuckled, making his face look real bad. Ami could've puked.

"Yes, you did. But no matter. And you do remember that I knew her name was Hina, right?" he asked.

Ami smiled. "Yeah, I do, but I'm not gonna confirm it!" she said with an evil smirk.

"Well, I got what I wanted. You can go now," he said with a triumphant smile.

Ami snickered. "Okay," she said and walked out of the cave.

Deidara was standing there, waiting, just like promised. She smiled to him.

"How did it go, yeah?" he asked and Ami shrugged.

"Fine, I think. He's a bit creepy, though," she said.

"I've never seen him. How did he look, un?" he asked as they got away from the cave and started running.

"Let's just say I was happy to see a good-looking fellow," she said, and Deidara smirked.

"You just, directly, called me good-looking, un," he said.

Ami shot him a glare, then smile. "Ah, I'm not even gonna deny it," she said.

Deidara's smirk grew even wider.

* * *

**Okay, so first of all, I want to thank the story alerts and favorites I've gotten! I really love you guys! You make my day, literally! But I'm sorry that I won't put out your names… I kinda delete the different messages I get… Sorry… But you know who you are, and when you see this, sitting wherever you are in this world, just know that I'm really grateful.**

**And I do (a bit embarrassed) have the names of the reviewers, and I thought I'd answer you three here for the last chap! ^^**

_Vivvy09_: Thanks girl, and I'm really glad you like my story! I will try to keep up the humor, but soon it'll get pretty serious…

_Kuro Shinen Akuma_: Gotta have some girlpower you know! And thank you for sticking to my story! Your reviews always make me happy!

_Aya and the Black Wings_: Do you seriously think I want to be your _buddy_?! After your review?! Juuust kiddin' ^^. Thanks for the review! I really like getting criticism from people like you! ^^ You always give me points! I really like it. ^^ About describing people and things, I'm trying to put it in the upcoming chapters. I added pov's here in this chapter. Hope you understood better now! ^^ Thank you for the review, and just keep looking for mistakes ^^

And for all of you readers; I will now give you a description of the three girls.

**Chieko**: A very tall girl (177 centimeters [as tall as Hidan]) Her hair is a lively dark brown color reached just over her shoulders. Her eyes are brown and she has some freckles. As said in this chapter, she always seeks the best in people. This is in both disguise and real.

**Ami**: A much smaller girl (162 centimeters [two cm lower than Sasori]) Her hair barely reaches over her chin and is a reddish-brown light color. Her eyes are blue and she is extremely independent.

**Mai**: (As in Ami in disguise) She looks taller now, on around 170 centimeters. Her hair is longer, and follows her neck closely down to her shoulders. She has black eyes and her hair is a dark purple color.

**Lucia**: (As in Hina in disguise) She is a small girl on 165 centimeters. She has long red hair that barely reaches to the small of her back. Her eyes are around the same color as Kisame's skin.

I will not tell you how **Hina** looks. I will eventually, but you will have to wait for around chapter 19-20. See yah, and please review! ^^

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	14. XIV

**New chap + Not a third reviewer + Getting soft + Getting board of this story = A rash end and bad content.**

**New chap + More reviews + Holding back on chapters + Loving to write story for readers = A perfect end and good content.**

**I hope you got the picture! If you did, please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters, or anything in the series of Naruto, and nor will I ever.**

**Claimer: I do own Hina, Ami, Chieko, and the looks of Sassy, along with the plot of this story!^^**

* * *

**Chapter 14: The test, part 3**

_Sasori POV_

Chieko and Sasori stopped outside a very, _very_ big house. It could be defined as a huge mansion.

Sasori turned and looked up at her. "You have to enter. I cannot. She doesn't like me after I got a bit impatient," he said in his low, grumbling voice.

He was of course in his other form, as Hiruko.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Chieko asked silently, and smiled softly down at him. Sasori found Chieko rather intriguing. She seemed so kind, and friendly. None in the Akatsuki were kind and friendly. "But I have to go in there, _alone_?" she asked and looked insecurely at the mansion.

"She is rather nice. I just wasn't," Sasori said, and found himself trying to _comfort_ the tall woman with shoulder-length hair and intriguing brown eyes.

"Heh, I don't doubt it. Okay, wish me luck!" Chieko said and left without an answer.

Sasori looked at her as she reached the door and opened it. "Good luck," he said silently, then shook his head out of the annoyance of whishing her so.

* * *

_Chieko POV_

"Come in here, my dear," a sugar-sweet voice said to Chieko from another room. Something about it was just so … suspicious.

Chieko had already figured the things out. She had never thought that she was going in there alone to retrieve information from the woman. Not on her first mission. If Sasori had come too, it would've been different. Now, it was just too suspicious.

She knew this was a set-up to get information from her, that the woman would give to the Akatsuki. Chieko smiled, knowing that Ami or Hina wouldn't have figured it out before it was too late. She almost laughed at the thought of her friends, always calling her Smartass.

Chieko walked into the living-room by the other side of the hall. A woman in a very long, red dress sat in a big chair. Her eyes were black, and seemed extremely friendly for some reason. Her looks were very different from her voice. She was young, and fair. But she seemed rather sad.

"Chieko, was it?" she asked. Now Chieko was absolutely sure that this was a test.

"Yes, it is," she said nonetheless to forge a sly alliance.

"What are you here for?" the woman asked.

"May I ask your name for starters?" Chieko asked, and the woman smiled.

"You may," she said.

"What is your name, m'lady?" Chieko asked.

"My name is Sassy," the woman said, and Chieko smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, Sassy," she said.

"Right," Sassy snorted.

"Good point. I don't know yet. You've not been funny yet," Chieko joked and Sassy smiled.

"Well, now I dare say it's a pleasure to meet you, Chieko," Sassy said, and Chieko chuckled.

"But about the information," Chieko said seriously.

"You want to go down to business?" Sassy asked, a bit surprised.

"No, I want to tell you that I know I'm not the one trying to gather information," Chieko said.

Sassy opened her eyes wide. "You already know? I mean, we make it painfully obvious in the end, but no one usually knows before they enter," she said.

"Well, not many would find it weird. It's too obvious," Chieko shrugged.

"Good point," Sassy said.

"But I always dig into every single thing," Chieko said with a careful smile.

"Well, then. Why won't you tell me your real name?" Sassy asked.

"Oh, my real name is Chieko," Chieko said.

"Really? I thought you were impostors," Sassy said, "And don't try to deny it."

"Whatever we're doing has nothing to do with the Akatsuki. We're not after information on them. But we are looking for information on a certain person. This I cannot tell you, as I don't even know the person," Chieko explained.

Sassy looked at her with a small frown. "What would it take for you to spill the truth?" she asked.

Chieko's mind drifted to pancakes. She just loved pancakes. She snapped out of it as soon as she had gotten into it, though.

"Nothing. You'd have to kill me. But I promise you it has nothing to do with information on the Akatsuki," Chieko said in all serenity.

"I find it weird, but something about you just makes me believe in you," Sassy said and looked Chieko up and down. She was a strange being, that one. But she kept to the loyalty of her friends.

"But will you tell me who it is who's trying to figure out of the different things?" Sassy asked.

Chieko smiled. "You may ask, but I will not tell. You'll just have to make due to the fact that it isn't me," she said.

Sassy smiled. "You're excused. I believe you," she said.

"Thanks," Chieko said.

"But are you sure you wanna be a tracker? It is rather demanding to girls," Sassy said.

"Anything boys can do, I can do better," Chieko said with a smile.

"Okay, if you say so," Sassy said, "Sayonara."

"Ja ne," Chieko said. The girl left.

"No, we won't see each other later in this form," Sassy mumbled to herself as she took the form of Konan and smiled as she looked down on the girl skipping down to Sasori.

Chieko skipped out of the house. She had known all along that Sassy wasn't a real person. She knew it from the moment she heard the voice. She knew it had been Konan. She could sense it. Not just because she could hear the voice's weird tone, but because she could feel it. She had a seventh sent in that matter.

Sasori was standing down at the gates waiting for her.

"I thought you hated waiting," Chieko said as she reached him.

Sasori huffed, and they then walked away from the mansion.

* * *

**WOHOOO! New chap! And thanks to:**

_Kuro Shinen Akuma_ **For reviewing so quickly on the chap, and**

_Chocoholic93_ **For blackmailing me to give out another chapter even though I haven't gotten a third reviewer. I'm getting soft…**

**But it's my sister's birthday, so I will upload another tomorrow, just because I love uploading! And not because she reads the stories (she doesn't. I won't let her), but because I just feel generally happy after a birthday! ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	15. XV

**I told you I'd do a new chap already today! Now enjoy, because this one is looong! ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe, and neither do I own the characters from said universe. Do you seriously think I'd stay on school if so?**

**Claimer: I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko, along with this stories plot ^^**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Finding the book**

_Hina POV_

Hina, Itachi and Kisame had reached the place where they would find the information they needed to … What _did_ they need the information for?

"Hey, guys? What kinda information are we searching for?" Hina asked the two men silently.

Kisame snorted. "We didn't tell you," he asked in awe, "And you didn't ask?"

Hina narrowed her eyes. "You just betrayed me too many times to ask the real thing, thinking that it would just be another lie," she said with a killer look at Kisame.

He smiled. "Oh," he said with sarcasm.

Itachi turned to Hina. "We're getting more information to give to Pein. We don't know what it is. He didn't tell us. We're only looking for a book called 'In between darkness and pain'. We don't know anything else," he said and Hina nodded.

"Okay," she said. She then returned her attention to the door in the shadows.

"Shall we?" Kisame asked, a frenzy running through Samehada.

"Let's go," Itachi said and the two of them rose, before Hina pulled them down again.

"Are you freakin' _crazy_?!" she snapped silently. They looked confused at her. "Do we have a _plan_?" she snarled.

"Oh, right! We didn't tell you that either!" Kisame said.

Hina closed her eyes slowly, breathing in and out in the same manner. "You were about to make me go in there, not knowing what kinda plan we had?!" her voice grew higher until it was just a pitch voice.

Kisame chuckled. "That would've been fun," he said, receiving a death glare from Hina.

"Fine! Relax, will yah?" Kisame said with an exasperated tone.

"What's the plan?" Hina asked.

"We enter, and keep outlook for traps. There _might_ be some guards. Not necessarily, though. The traps should really do the trick. Itachi will use his Sharingan to try to spot the different gen- or ninjutsus used. Samehada will warn me about chakra-residents," Kisame said.

Hina nodded. "Okay," she said, "But where are we going? Say, if we have to split? How many halls are there? Corridors?"

Kisame frowned.

"Then we're on our own," Itachi said quietly, "This is what needs to be done to get that book."

"How can we find the book?" Hina asked.

"Pein said it was chakra based," Kisame said.

Hina nodded. "Okay, then we can find it by tracking chakra. Any idea of what chakra it is?" she asked.

"A heavy one. Dark. You might feel like you can't breathe," Kisame said, and shot a worried glance at Hina.

"Okay," Hina said. The wind would help her feel light.

"Now, let's go!"

This time it was Kisame who said it. All three of them walked up to the door with slow and careful steps. Itachi frowned as they reached the door. As did Kisame.

"There's a lot of ninjutsu-based techniques on the door," Itachi said.

Kisame nodded. "And a lot of chakra," he said.

Hina smiled. The two of them were just so weird. They seemed to enjoy this. Kisame showed it clearly by practically licking his lips. Itachi had that emotion in his eyes that meant he had a real adrenaline-kick. The two of them did some handsigns, and then Itachi opened the door, slowly.

They all got inside, and saw that Hina was right; there were different doorways. Actually, it was three of them.

"A genjutsu?" Hina asked Itachi.

He frowned. "No. Mere coincidence," he said.

Hina nodded. "I'll take this one," she said and walked to the left, feeling no sign of chakra or jutsu.

Kisame stopped her by grabbing her wrist. "Maybe you and I should go down here," he said, and pointed at the same way as Hina was deciding, "And then we can walk back if it's a dead end?"

Hina rolled her eyes. "No, Kisame. It's faster to go one and one," she said, and added, rather harshly, "Besides, I can take care of myself."

Kisame let go of her wrist, and she walked over to the door.

"Ja ne (later)," she said and disappeared through it.

_Kisame POV_

Kisame looked at the door, before he turned to Itachi. "I'll take this one," Kisame said and walked to the one on the opposite side of Lucia's door. Itachi nodded, and Kisame walked through the door and found himself in an oval room. Something wasn't right, but he knew he had picked the right room for him to deal with. The chakra was flooding everywhere.

_Itachi POV_

Itachi looked at the door Lucia had disappeared through. He couldn't help but worry for a second. But why? Kisame had gone through one as well, and Itachi knew Lucia was fully capable to take care of herself. Maybe the resemblance with Lucia and Hina was the thing that made him so worried. He frowned and shook his head. That he walked through the remaining door.

_Hina POV_

Hina giggled to herself. She could see all the traps and all the jutsus used. It was so easy that she thought it too easy, and therefore kept on the secure side. But that wasn't the reason for the giggling. She was giggling because she felt so light. She had let the wind swirl around her and grab her.

It was keeping her in the air, so that she was flying on it, kinda like someone floating on the surface of the water. The traps were mostly attached to the floor, walls or roof, but almost none in the air. Just the ones which were attached to the walls, roof and floor at the same time. But it was fun.

She wondered how Itachi and Kisame were doing. She wasn't worried about them, but she wanted to know where they were. Maybe they'd already found the book. But then Hina would know. They had a walkie-talkie in their pouch along with the weapons. They weren't to use it if they weren't in danger or had found the book.

Out of Kisame and Itachi, she'd say Itachi would get there fastest. He had always been extremely fast and he usually beat her when she didn't use her wind to carry her faster. That was something Itachi had always wondered about; why he one second was faster than her, then the other she was so fast he couldn't even hope to follow her.

She missed how he tried to figure it out. How she teased him with saying: 'You'll never find it out, and I will never tell you'. She always loved him beyond her imagination, but she never really told him. The ache in her gut when he disappeared was so painful she thought she could die. Fortuantely, Ami had been there all the while, and then Chieko.

They helped her, but the pain she felt was immeasurable, and no comforting word would ever be enough. Not unless he was the one who spoke them. But he turned his back on her and Sasuke. She would probably never understand why, but she would try. Maybe the truth was gonna help her. Maybe she wouldn't get to know the truth. Maybe the truth was unintended for her.

She thought about the times she had just held him. The time when they had been swimming by the rivers after a game of battle. When they childishly waved at each other under the water.

Then, out of the blue, something seemed to push on Hina. A chakra darker than anything she'd ever felt. It pushed her. She focused on the wind and it relived some of the pressure, but the closer she got, the heavier the chakra became.

She focused all her energy on not getting pushed to the ground. Then the force stopped growing. She looked around and saw to her amazement that the book was lying open on the floor. She didn't dare to go over to it, but saw from the distance a pitch-black cover with flaming red letters saying: 'In Between Darkness and Pain' It was a big book, and everything around it was dusty and filled with spiderwebs, except the book. The book looked new. Very new. Too new. She fished out the walkie-talkie.

"Guys? I found it," she said, and soon got a response from Kisame.

"Great! Now take it, and let's leave!" he said.

Hina was about to say something when Itachi interrupted. "No. Don't touch it. I'm coming," he said.

Hina smiled and said: "I was gonna say that you have to come, actually. There's a genjutsu on it. It looks so new in difference to the rest of the room. The pressure is heavy though. Heavier than I expected. And there are very many traps in the corridor. The only reason I made it, was because I control wind, and made it carry me. So be careful."

Hina got no response from Itachi, but Kisame said: "I'll go back to the start and wait for you there." "Hai (Yes/Okay)," Hina replied and then put away the walkie-talkie.

Hina was standing with her back against the only safe spot she found in the room when Itachi walked in. He looked a bit tired.

Hina frowned. "Daijoubu (Are you okay)?" she asked, getting somewhat worried.

She had been beat by the chakra as well, but not that bad. Now she was rather used to the pressure.

"Hai (yes)," Itachi said and looked around the room.

"It's a good place to put the book," Itachi said eventually. "And the genjutsu?" Hina asked. "Not the problem," Itachi said and pointed at a window, "But that is." Hina looked at it and sensed a weird tremble run through her. "The only way to get that book is to not touch it," he said, "if you're not on a suicide-mission."

Hina jumped up. "Have you broken the genjutsu?" she asked.

"Yes, it's gone, but how can we get the book without touching it?" Itachi asked looking around.

"You mean no tools either?" Hina asked, and Itachi nodded. "I can get it," she said.

Itachi frowned. "How?" he asked.

As an answer, Hina had already let the wind catch the book and grabbed it. The window shattered and something big fell through the hole in the roof.

"Is that … a _bomb_?!" Hina asked incredulously.

Itachi ran towards her and grabbed her wrist. "Let's go!" he yelled and they ran to the exit in a tremendous speed.

They hit some of the traps and kunai's were shot at them. Hina then went against all her reason and grabbed Itachi's waist. She pulled them up with the wind and shot forward in inhuman speed. They broke the wall of vision.

They were soon at the start, and Hina grabbed Kisame by his cloak and he flew after them like a dolly.

"LUCIA?!" he exploded.

They boomed out of the cave-door and two seconds later, the whole place exploded. Hina lost control over the wind and felt herself fly with the pressure of the explosion. An arm wrapped around her and kept her close. She didn't let go of Kisame's cloak. Then she hit something very hard, and everything went dark.

* * *

**How did you like this chap? I've never written an action-scene like this before, so please review and tell me what you think about it, and what I can do better. I'd really like to hear from you! ^^**

**And thanks to:**

_Kuro Shinen Akuma_**: THANKS FOR THA MAP, GIRL!! ^^**

**And**

_waz-up-woMAN_**: Gotta be random, yah know ^^ **

**But please review on this chap. I really need it this time. I really want to know if I did good or bad. Just help me, and this story might get better!**

**PS: I've started using the horizontal lines, only when it's a skip in time, and before and after an A/N. ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	16. XVI

**Okay, so since I got three reviews soooo quickly (THANK YOU GUYS!!) then I'll upload again today^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series or universe or any characters in it.**

**Claimer: I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko**

**And to the reviewers:**

_Kuro Shinen Akuma_**: Thanks for the map! I am now enjoying the trip! And I'm really happy you enjoyed it^^ **

_Vampy Kitten_**: Thank you so much! I'm really glad you like my story! I'm smiling hugely right now. Just thought you might wanna know ^^ Oh, and I've written the finding out, so just wait a bit and it will be out. But only if you (AND EVERYBODY ELSE) keep reviewing.**

_Cheetay_**: Thank you for liking my story! I will update asap, and maybe even quicker if I get enough reviews ^^**

**ENJOY! I know I did ^^**

**

* * *

**

Chapter 16: Feeling home in the arms of a mysterious man

_**Hina POV**_

Hina felt an ache in the back of her head and groaned. Then she felt very unstable. Like she was moving. Hold it! She was moving. She forced her eyes open and almost puked as she saw what speed she was in. She shut her eyes quickly and tried not to think of the moving arena.

"Are you okay?" a worried voice said.

Hina made a grimace. "Seriously, fish-boy! Do I _look_ okay?!" she snapped.

Kisame chuckled. "You did good, Lu," he said. Hina smiled. "Without you, we'd all be dead," he added thoughtfully. "Hey! Itachi! We owe Lu our lives!" he said as if he just realized it was someone's birthday.

"True," Hina heard the muffled answer from the left. She opened her eyes to thin slits and saw Itachi run beside them.

_**What did you expect? Him staying behind? **_Hina's 'inner' asked. Hina rolled her eyes, still with closed locks. Then a bounce came, and she closed her eyes harder.

"Do you need to stop?" Kisame asked, back to the worried tone.

Hina nodded vaguely. She felt him stop and that felt almost worse. Like she stopped, but her head kept running. She sat down and held her head between her hands.

"Here," Itachi said, "Some water."

Hina grabbed the bottle, and smiled warmly to him. So warmly that she felt some of her real emotions shine through and blushed. She quickly looked down at the bottle and took off the top, but she could feel Itachi's intense look on her, like he wondered what the blush was all about. She drank some of the water, and then took some deep breaths. She eventually rose to her feet again, still a bit dizzy.

"Thanks," she said and gave the bottle back to Itachi, "I'm good now."

They then started running, Hina a bit unbalanced at first, but soon got steadier. They ran for another seven miles before they stopped because of the nightfall.

Hina looked around and saw that they were sitting in a clearing near a river. Kisame had probably picked the spot. Everything around her was so calming. The birds were singing before going to bed, the river flowing down the riverbed, and the wind blowing in the leaves of the trees.

Kisame went to find some wood, and Hina and Itachi stayed behind. It was silent for a long time, but it wasn't awkward. It was natural. It was like the old days when the two of them just sat under a sakura-tree, watching nothing in particular, only enjoying each other's company. Hina was leaning against a tree right there and then and looked at the stars.

Kisame came back soon enough, and sat down. "Lu, you should really sleep," he said.

Hina smiled to him. "I'm fine. But what happened, really?" she asked.

"Your head hit a rock. It was a deep gash. We got it cleaned up and it's healed pretty fast," Kisame said.

"Oh. Well, I am not really tir-," her last word disappeared in a gasp.

"Great timing," Kisame mocked.

"Oh, stew it fish-boy!" Hina snapped, causing Kisame to chuckle.

"But relax. I'm keeping guard. I won't sleep," he said.

Hina nodded and in the end, her eyes slid shut, only getting a small glance at Itachi before she fell into the darkness again.

As Hina woke up the next day, she was once again moving. She rolled her eyes and looked up, expecting to find Kisame, but almost choked as she saw it was Itachi holding her. A feeling in her stomach erupted, and she couldn't help but blush ever so slightly. And, being the annoying guy he was, he chose that time to look down at her, but she had already closed her eyes.

"You're awake?" he asked, not too loud, so if she wanted to pretend not to be, it wouldn't cause suspicion, and that's what Hina chose.

He didn't say anything else and just kept running. She smiled a bit by the feeling of the warmth radiating from his body, and snuggled a bit into his chest, something he didn't seem to notice.

She breathed in his sent and felt a shiver run down her spine. Kami, had she missed that smell! He smelt like something indefinable. Like the best perfume in the world, but you couldn't describe why. A mysterious smell, just as he was a mysterious man.

She had longed to be so close to him for forever, and after five and a half years, she was just that close. She felt the urge to hug him, kiss him, touch him, but fought back. She enjoyed the feeling of just having him this close.

But then Hina noticed that it was unnaturally quiet, and her mind went to Kisame. Wasn't he there? She opened her eyes slowly as if she had just woken up.

"Itachi?" she asked, acting dumbfounded. Itachi looked down at her. "Where's Kisame?" she asked.

"He had to go to another location on a direct order from Pein through Zetsu. He will be gone for a couple of weeks," Itachi said.

Hina nodded.

Itachi kept running.

Hina frowned. "Eh, Itachi? You can put me down now," she said and Itachi skidded to a stop.

Hina jumped down awkwardly, and then they kept running. _Wait a sec… Here's my chance!_ Hina thought eccentrically. She looked Itachi.

"Itachi?" she started and the man looked curtly at her to show he was paying attention, "Why did you really join the Akatsuki?"

Itachi looked shocked at her.

"I know, I know! None of my business, but you can't keep a curious girl from prying," Hina said quickly with a smirk.

_**Itachi POV**_

Itachi frowned. He looked at Lucia. Something was off about her, but he trusted her more than he trusted Kisame for some weird reason. He felt like he couldn't lie to her, but he couldn't tell her the truth. It wasn't intended for anyone to figure out of. No one. Except those who already knew.

"Is it too personal?" Lucia asked, and Itachi thought he heard something resembling hope in her voice.

Why on earth would she hope it was too personal when she asked? Maybe he just had to lie to her as well. Like with everyone else.

"No, not really," Itachi said, "Everyone in the Akatsuki knows, so there's really nothing to hide. I killed the Uchiha-clan." He saw her face fall in one second, and then shock was replaced by the fall.

"But the Uchiha-clan…?" she asked and faltered. She had understood. They both fell to silence.

_**Hina POV**_

Hina's brain was going on high gear to say the least. He didn't care? Really? Or was it just a façade? Why couldn't he just tell the truth? _**Maybe you should make him tell? **_Hina's inner suggested. _Against the Sharingan? Right, bite me! _she thought to herself.

"When will we reach the hideout?" Hina asked eventually.

"In less than an hour," Itachi said and Hina nodded approvingly.

She wanted to talk to Ami and Chieko. Besides, she and Ami still hadn't learned the technique from Chieko, meaning the tall brown would be rather exhausted by now.

Right on cue, the two shinobi reached the cave in less than an hour. Ami and Chieko were sitting in the living-room with Konan, talking about girl-stuff. Hina joined them there.

"Hi, Crazy! How was the mission?" Ami asked, and smiled to Itachi who nodded back to her.

"Long," Hina whined and fell back in the couch.

"How long?" Chieko asked.

"So long that I forgot my own nickname," Lucia mumbled.

Mai and Chieko fake-gasped. "No way! You can't forget that your nickname is Crazy, Crazy!" they both shouted at the same time.

Konan smiled at the three of them. Things were changing around here, that's for sure.

* * *

**So I really hope you liked it! Thanks so much for the reviews, and keep them coming! I know, I'm greedy ^^**

**PS: I'm gone for the weekend, with no kinda internet... So enjoy this chapter as much as you can, and send many reviews! Then I'll be extremely happy and maybe even add two chapters on Monday!! ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	17. XVII

**New chap folks! I know I told you I had no internet, but I didn't know they had gotten it now. So be pleased that I have internet after all, so that I could update! ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Naruto series. They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto, and anyone who has helped him.**

**Claimer: I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko along with the plot of this story.**

**To the reviewers!!!**

_Kuro Shinen Akuma_**: Hehe, miss Crazy ^^ I like that! And don't worry. It'll come sooner than you think ^^**

_Cheetay_**: Thank you! I will! ^^**

**ENJOY ppz!**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Telling him, and adding her**

**_Hina POV_**

Hina woke up in her own bed by Chieko shaking her. She groaned and pulled the pillow over her head.

"I don't think so," Chieko whispered and snatched away the pillow and sheets.

Hina groaned again and opened her eyes annoyed. "_What_?!" she snapped.

"I'm teaching you guys the technique today. That mission of yours was too much for me," Chieko said.

Hina sat up. "Oh," she said, "Well then I'll be out in three minutes."

Chieko nodded and left the room.

Hina rose and looked herself in the mirror as Lucia. Her red hair was all messy and tangibly. She tried to straighten it out a bit, but soon gave up, too tired to do anything. She pulled on some clothes, still half-asleep. You'd think she was dead if you saw her. She then sobbed out of the room to the hallway where Chieko and Ami were waiting for her.

"Let's go," Chieko said, smilingly. Ami and Hina both looked like they could kill her.

Chieko decided to push it. "Don't you just _love_ mornings?" she asked with a massive smile.

Chieko then ran away with two sleepy, angry, hungry girls after her, while laughing happily. They were just as they used to be in Konoha. Not even the Akatsuki could take that away from them.

They were standing outside in a field away from the base. It was good cover and Chieko was on her guard. She'd know if someone was getting closer. She was smiling at their focused looks. They were grimacing and struggling to get the jutsu right. They were on good way, though. Hina had managed to get her hair into the red, shorter one, but still very long, and her eyes were a cold blue.

Ami had her black short hair, barely reaching her shoulders and her eyes were mahogany-colored. She was taller than her usual self, but still lower than Hina. But that was their problem. Ami had to stretch more, and Hina had to shrink more. It was supposed to be the other way around, but not so big a difference as it was usually.

Then Chieko felt a chakraflow getting closer fast, and she forged on them the looks they were supposed to have. They looked at their friend, who pointed to the left. The two girls grabbed some kunai's and hit a target to show that they were doing something else than trying to master a concealment-jutsu.

"I hate weapons," Hina mumbled, even though she hit the middle, along with Ami.

Then the source of the chakra appeared and it was Pein walking into the clearing. The two girls stopped what they were doing, and Chieko jumped down to them from the tree she had been sitting on. They walked over to Pein who stood in the shadows of the trees.

"Is there something wrong, leader-sama?" Chieko asked.

"I received the information from the people you met," Pein said, "And I need to know why you joined the Akatsuki if it wasn't to betray us when you're apparently deceiving us."

They all exchanged a look and Hina turned to him. "I'll tell you the truth, if you promise not to tell the person it's about or anyone else. Not even Konan," she said.

"And why would I promise you that?" Pein asked.

"Because if you don't we won't tell you," Hina said stubbornly.

"I have enough information on all of you to know that you, Lucia, are the one behind it all. Why should I listen to you when I could just threaten the lives of the friends beside you?" Pein asked.

Hina narrowed her eyes. "You'll threaten me to get the information when you know well that it has nothing to do with the Akatsuki?" she asked.

Pein nodded with a sly smirk.

"Why can't you just promise not to tell?" Hina asked in an annoyed tone.

"Okay, fine. I won't tell," Pein said, "Will you tell me now?"

"Yes. My name is Takahashi Hina, and I'm from Konoha. This is Sakata Ami and Okinawa Chieko from the same village. I was Itachi's … eh … well, he meant more to me than a friend. And then he left the village. I need to know why. That's all," Hina told in a very fast voice.

Pein nodded. "Then I suppose this isn't how you look?" he more stated than asked. Chieko released the jutsu. "A concealment-jutsu?" he asked as he looked at Ami's much shorter hair and body and Hina's brown, longer hair and height.

"Not really. Well, yeah, but of much higher standard and almost no high chakra-management," Chieko said.

"But why aren't you disguised?" Pein asked.

"Itachi never met her. Sure, they lived in the same village, but he never knew her," Hina said.

Pein didn't say anything for a while. Hina, Ami and Chieko were looking hopefully on him. He then said: "I don't know why, but I believe you. And I won't tell anyone." Hina looked like she could hug him, which was huge. Hina never hugged anyone. Ami did run up to him and tried to hug him, but in a quick movement he was one inch away from her arms surrounding him, and she fell to the ground.

Chieko smiled at her weird friend, and Hi-Lucia laughed out loud. Pein didn't get how they could be so cheery all the time. He had never seen them real serious, except when they now told him the truth, which was probably why he did believe them. He turned and walked away from the fighting/giggling girls.

Hina sat up from the grass, and looked at Ami and Chieko laughing their heads off. She smiled at them, and thanked Kami that she had them as friends. If she hadn't had them as friends during _that_ time, she couldn't tell where she'd be right then and there. They warmed her heart in a way that no parent or lover ever could. They were not only her friends, or BFF's, but her sisters, kids and mothers at the same time as she could say anything to them. They meant so much to her.

"Crazy, are you all right?" Ami asked with a frown.

"Hm?" Hina asked, confused.

"You're crying," Chieko pointed out.

Hina frowned, then Chieko's words sunk in, and true enough, Hina could feel the wet salty tears trickle down her face. In a swift movement she dried the tears and smiled a true and warm smile to her friends.

"I'm just glad I have you," she said in a thick voice.

Ami and Chieko both looked shocked at her, then they smiled evilly.

Hina looked crept out at them. "What?" she asked carefully.

Then Ami and Chieko lounged forward and started tickling her.

"NO!" she screamed and started laughing in agony, trying to make them stop.

**_Konan POV_**

"Who are they?" Konan asked Nagato, who stopped and looked at her.

"I promised I wouldn't tell, but I'm sure they'll tell you if you asked. They seem to trust you," he said, and Konan nodded.

"Where are they?" she asked.

"In the meadow," Nagato said curtly and started to walk away. "Ja ne (later)," he said, and Konan turned with sad eyes.

Nagato never opened up to her anymore. They were no longer the good friends. He only wanted to protect her, but he just caused her pain, something he wasn't aware of.

**_Hina POV_**

Ami and Chieko had stopped tickling Hina when Chieko felt another chakra-flow move towards them. She then took on the disguise again. Konan reached them at that point and smiled to them.

"Pein didn't tell you?" Ami asked. Konan nodded.

"Do you have to know?" Chieko asked. Konan nodded again.

"Will you promise not to tell anyone?" Hina asked, receiving another nod from the blue-haired girl.

The three girls exchanged a glance and then they once again turned to their real forms and told her their real story.

Chieko smiled when they were done. "And I also knew that you were the Sassy-woman," she said.

Konan lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "You sure are shocking," she said. Ami and Hina giggled.

"She's not Smartass for no reason," Ami said with a laugh.

Chieko shot her a glare. "I'm not as smart as they tell you I am," she said to Konan.

"On the contrary it seems. You seem smarter than they say," Konan said, and Chieko blushed while Ami and Hina started laughing.

"She's just shy," Ami said and then Chieko narrowed her eyes at her friend, causing Ami to laugh more. Konan smiled at them.

"OH! Maybe we should give Konan a C name!" Hina exploded.

Ami smiled "OH YEAH!" she bellowed.

Konan looked confused at them.

"It makes you a best friend that is in on all the insides and cannot stab the other in the back," Ami explained.

"Besides, it makes you cool!" Hina added enthusiastically, as if that said it all.

"Okay, then I'd love to be a C," Konan said with a smile.

"Well, first of all, you _have_ to loosen up," Ami said.

"Secondly, you have to tell us if you do or don't like Pein as more than a friend and partner," Hina said, and Konan blushed. "Okay, maybe you don't. You kinda just revealed yourself," Hina added.

"Thirdly! You have to make a prank," Chieko said, remembering her trial.

Konan nodded. "I'll do my best!" she said with a mock-salute. They all giggled.

* * *

**Yeah, yeah I know. It might be some Konan-OOC… I'm sorry, but I really don't know just how she is. I know she is very serious and all, but I just have to make her a girl sometimes, so live through it. But I hope you enjoyed anyways! And please review! Give me a C-name for Konan, and I might use that instead of Candy! ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	18. XVIII

**A new chapter! And I just love it when I get reviews! ^^**

**And to my reviewers:**

_Narutofan1234_**: Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it!**

_Kuro Shinen Akuma_**: I kinda feel a bit bad… You see, I haven't written the prank with Konan yet… And I've written 22 chapters… I'll try to get it in as soon as possible, maybe even fix some chapters ^^**

_White Lioness Rin_**: Now you don't have to wait any longer, because here it is! ^^**

_Cheetay_**: Yeah, I think so too, so I'm just gonna stick with Candy. ^^**

**EN- wait a minute! I seem to forget something very important called:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe and never will, so remember that in case I should forget to put it out…**

**Claimer: I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko along with the plot of this story, or whatever… ^^**

**So, now I can complete my word!**

**-JOY!**

* * *

**Chapter 18: Trying to find out**

_**Hina POV**_

Hina was on her way home from another mission with Itachi. Kisame hadn't gotten home yet. She had tried to talk as much as possible with Itachi without him thinking that she did nothing but talk. That would cause bad blood between them. But if she talked too little, it would cause embarrassing tension. But now, they were running in silence.

Maybe she should say something. Or not. She couldn't pressure him more than she usually would. Like the way it used to be before everything happened. Everything changed. Everything disappeared. Everything went black.

"We should be there in half an hour," Itachi's calm and deep voice said.

Hina nodded absentmindedly. To think that this all happened years ago for a reason unknown. For the first time she felt stupid for using this disguise, making him unable to recognize her. She was expecting it to come, but was this a bad timing or what? Now she would actually consider it.

What if she showed him who she was? Would he freak?

_**Well, of course, genius! Of course he'd freak!**_

_I'm not talking to you. _

_**Eh, no. You're thinking to me! **_

Hina rolled her eyes. Unfortunately for her, Itachi was looking that way and noticed the roll. He frowned, but then looked straight ahead.

"What?" Hina asked, smiling inside herself.

"Nothing," Itachi said.

"You think I'm sick of you?" Hina asked.

Itachi shook his head. "Not exactly," he said.

"What is it, then?"

"You remind me of someone, that's all," he said.

Hina's heart skipped a beat. He thought she reminded him of someone! Was that _her_? Okay, that was confusing…

"Who?" Hina asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"A girl from my village," Itachi said curtly.

"How did you know her?" Hina asked, smiling now, both inside and outside.

"…"

Hina smiled. So typical Itachi. "Just tell me already, or I'll presume she was your moth-" she stopped herself, and closed her eyes briefly.

She just talked so openly about his mother, knowing he had killed her.

"It's okay," Itachi said in a monotone, "I'm the one who killed them. And on my own choice."

Hina sighed and stopped. Itachi stopped as well.

"Will you please tell me what happened?" she asked, surprising him a bit. He didn't show it in his face though, only his eyes.

His eyes were a red mass now, unlike the soft, but empty black ones back in the day. It _was_ harder to read them now, but they were still his eyes, Sharingan or no Sharingan.

"Why do you wanna know so badly?" he asked.

"Because no one in their right mind would go off killing their own family to prove their strength. It has to be a reason," Hina said.

"What do you mean; 'proving your strength'?" Itachi asked, looking down at her with intense eyes.

Hina frowned, but inside she screamed bloody murder. Why the hell did she just say that? She just let it slip. And that was NOT a good thing.

"Well, Kisame told me about it," she lied easily, but something in Itachi's eyes told her that he didn't quite believe her.

"Hn," he said, nonetheless.

"But will you tell me?" Hina asked, pushing it more than she should, and she knew it.

"What if I'm not in my right mind?" he asked.

"Then you'd be sacrificing people to Jashin, arguing about art, think you're the best, believe in justice, count money instead of sheep when you want to sleep, look hungrily at humans, turn others into puppets, bomb anything you see-" Hina said, but was interrupted by Itachi:

"Okay, okay. I get it."

Hina smiled. "Good," she said.

"But I cannot tell you," he said slowly and seriously.

"Just tell me something; did you really have a choice?" Hina asked.

"Yes," Itachi said, "Between two evils."

Hina smiled. Her heart started pounding like never before, and she couldn't help it; she simply glowered with relief. He looked weirdly at her, and they started running again, in silence of course.

* * *

_**Itachi POV**_

Kisame had gotten back as they entered the cave. "Yo! Lu!" he yelled.

"Hey! Fish-boy!" Lucia yelled back in the same tone, just with a bit more teasing in it. She then walked over to high-five him.

Itachi sweat-dropped internally. But then he looked at Lucia again. What was with that smile of relief? Why was she so happy when he told her? And why did she remind him so much of Hina?

Itachi walked up to Pein and said: "Are they who they say they are?"

Pein looked taken aback. Then he calmed down. "Do you think I'd let them wander in these halls if they weren't?" he shot at Itachi in a stern voice.

Itachi frowned. "Then what were the questions about?" he asked.

"You're plenty smart, Itachi, but I cannot tell you anything about those girls," Pein said calmly.

"Can't, or won't?" Itachi asked.

Pein narrowed his eyes.

Itachi knew had gone too far. "Gomen (sorry), leader," he said.

"Why are you so sure about it, anyways?" Pein asked, genially curious.

"Lucia. She reminds me of someone I knew," Itachi said with no hesitation.

"Know your place, Itachi," Pein said and walked away.

Itachi followed him with his eyes. Then he turned and sat the course to a room he had never entered before, and had no desire to, either.

"Come on in, yeah," Deidara's voice said through the door.

Itachi opened it and sweat-dropped when he saw Deidara's reaction to him when he walked into the room. He seemed to start to sweat and pointed his finger at him many times, his visible eye twitching.

"You … what … huh … why … you …" he stammered.

Itachi didn't say anything, just looked around the room.

It was as big as his was, but it seemed much smaller. He had a lot of things in his room. Most of the things in the room were a natural tree-color, like the structure on his bed, but everything else was white. The walls were white; the shelves were white. Just about everything was white. And on the shelves, there were clay-figures, mostly birds.

"What do you want?!" Deidara snapped as he got to his senses.

Itachi turned to him. "I want you help," he said.

Deidara then had the same reaction all over again. "You want … _you_ want _my_ help?" he said with a weak voice when he composed himself.

"Yes," Itachi said.

"And why would I help _you_, un?" Deidara snarled.

"Because it is about Mai as well," Itachi said quietly.

Deidara looked up at him. "What do you mean, yeah?" he asked.

"They're not who they say they are," Itachi said.

Deidara raised his eyebrows then snickered. "You mean Lucia hasn't told you, hm?" he said incredulously.

Itachi turned quickly to the blonde. "You know?" he asked carefully.

Deidara nodded. "Sure. Mai told me two weeks ago, just after she had talked to Lucia and Chieko about telling me, yeah," he said, smirking.

"Who are they?" Itachi asked.

"Sorry, no can do. I kinda promised I wouldn't tell, un. You have to find a way on your own. I don't think Hidan or Kakuzu knows, though. And probably not Zetsu, yeah," Deidara said.

Itachi seemed to want to snap Deidara's neck, and the only reason he didn't was because he was a part of the Akatsuki. They were on the same team, even though sometimes, it didn't seem like it.

"Sasori does?" Itachi asked slowly.

Deidara nodded.

"Hn," Itachi said and walked out.

Why did Pein, Sasori and Deidara know? Why not him?

* * *

**Okay guys! If you liked it, please tell me, and I'll be very happy! If you didn't, tell me what to improve, and I'll be very happy! Next chapter will have a real cliffhanger, and I look forward to it!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	19. XIX

**New chappie folks! And no, I wasn't cruel in letting you wait for five days. If you think so, look forward to the A/N in the end of the chapter. ^^**

**To my reviewer ^^:**

_Cheetay_**: First of all, yeah, I think he's getting a bit paranoid… You'll see how much in this chapter… Secondly, I'm glad you liked the chapter! And thirdly: Thanks for not abandoning me to my none-review room! You're my saving angel right now! *Mentally giving **_Cheetay_ **a very nice necklace saying ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU!***

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe, characters or anything in the lines of the manga/anime.**

**Claimer: I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko. Deal with it.**

* * *

**Chapter 19: Could it be?**

_**Hina POV**_

Hina was sitting in her room with Ami and Chieko. They were all trying to find a way to get Itachi to tell the truth, and they now referred to him as 'Creepy'. That was what Ami and Hina had called him before they got to know him. When they were in the ninja academy. He had always been so quiet, but they later found out that he had never had a good relationship with his family, they only thinking he was good for his talents, and therefore he never talked to many others, thinking they'd probably only be the same.

"Chieko," Sasori's voice said. All of them looked up. "We're called to get a mission by Pein. I wonder what it is, since he only took the two of us," he said, and Chieko smiled.

"I'll be there in a sec," she said and he nodded and left.

"See yah, girls. Think of something clever," Chieko said.

"Then we might as well give up," Ami said.

"We're not smart enough," Hina said.

"Then think with your hearts," Chieko suggested and left. Ami and Hina looked after her like she had gone crazy. Think with their hearts? Right.

They walked down to the kitchen and found Kisame, Itachi, Hidan and Deidara there. Deidara smirked at Ami who narrowed her eyes, something Hina didn't fail to notice.

"Hey guys," Hina said, and then turned to Ami, "Eh, Mai? I need to talk to you about something. Something little. Something you should've told me. Then we can eat."

Ami looked confused at her, but followed nonetheless, leaving a bit confused guys, and hearing a 'those fucking girls are fucking lunatics' from Hidan. They both snickered.

"Why the heck didn't you tell me you liked Deidara?! I could've played O.M.M!" Hina shrieked.

Ami clamped her hand on her friend's mouth. "Stew it, Crazy! Don't shout!" she shouted. Hina sweat-dropped.

"Fine, but you could've told me, Cookie. It's not like I would've gone around in the halls screaming stuff like 'Cookie is sooo into Deidara'," Hina said, a little louder than a usual tone.

"Then don't!" Ami said with wide eyes looking at the door and back to Hina, who smiled.

"Fine," she said, "You got me."

They walked back to the kitchen, Deidara smiling at Ami in a nice way, which totally crept her out. Hina walked over to the fridge and took out a carrot. When she turned, Ami looked crept out on her.

"What?" Hina asked.

"You're not gonna take the banana-talk, are you?" Ami asked looking at the carrot.

Hina frowned, then smirked. "I wasn't, but you sure put me on clue of something. But I have a feeling he's not a virgin," she said. The boys seemed to stare at her and grow a bit uncomfortable.

'_Ninjas'_, Hina thought, '_They're always such pussies.'_

"K'so (Damn)! Iie (no)! Don't do it! Onegai (Please)!" Ami whined.

Hina snickered. But then she stopped. "Fine," she said and took a bite out of the carrot.

"Who the fuck were you fucking talking about?" Hidan asked.

Hina turned to him. "D-"

"Shut your tramp, Crazy!" Ami screamed and smashed Hina to the floor.

"HEY! My carrot!" Hina whined.

Ami sweat-dropped along with the others.

"That's what you care about, Lu?" Kisame asked.

Hina smiled innocently at him. "Yup," she said in a jolly voice.

"You're weird," Kisame muttered.

"Yeah, look who's talking," Ami and Hina both said.

Kisame snickered innocently. "But do you know what kinda mission Sasori and Chieko is on?" he asked, turning serious and slightly jealous.

_**Kisame POV**_

Kisame had been in the cave too long for his taste, and Itachi didn't go anywhere anymore, so he didn't bother going out if he had no one to talk to. Or maybe Lucia would go with him.

"Hey, Lu?" Kisame asked, and Lucia turned to him, "Do you wanna go out and train?"

Lucia seemed slightly shocked, but soon smiled hugely. "Duh!" she said and jumped up from the floor she was still lying on.

Kisame chuckled. She was such a jolly kid.

They walked out and then Kisame, out of nowhere, just started to run. "See if you can catch me!" he said and he could bet that Lucia was rolling her eyes.

Then a wind stronger than a normal breeze shot past him, but he didn't know what it was until Samehada made an unusual sound.

"Great deal of chakra, eh? LU?!" he yelled and sped up.

When he reached the river, Lucia was sitting by the edge and her feet tingling in the water.

"I could send sharks after you," Kisame said.

"Don't doubt it," Lucia said, "Many people probably mistake you for one."

"No, one of my jutsu is calling sharks," Kisame explained, and smiled as she turned with a shocked expression.

"Cool! Can I see?" she asked with a big smile.

"No," Kisame said simply.

Lucia crossed her arms and pouted slightly.

"Ah, come on! Don't be like that!" Kisame said and played along.

Lucia only turned away from him.

"Oh, fine! I'll show you," Kisame said and Lucia jumped up.

"YAY!" she shrieked.

"Gah, you're such a baby," Kisame said.

Lucia nodded. "Too true," she said.

_**Hina POV**_

Hina watched in what was near awe when she saw a shark jump out of the water, quickly followed by another. "Awesome!" she exclaimed.

Kisame chuckled, and then the shark came to Hina in top speed as to attack. Hina smirked and then she was gone. Kisame looked around the place, but Hina saw that he couldn't see her anywhere. She giggled in the tree she sat in.

Then she used top speed and soon stood with her kunai pressed against his throat. "You'd be dead now," she said, and Kisame smiled.

"You're good," he said approvingly.

Hina sat down on the grass. "I could never beat you in strength, but if your speed is great enough, it's all that matters," she said.

"How can you be so quick? It's not just practice, is it?" Kisame asked.

"No, I'm a wind-user. I use the wind to push me beyond the wall of vision. As long as you know how to use it, wind is about the strongest element there is," Hina said.

Kisame nodded. "That is true," he said.

Hina smiled. "Shall we fight, then?" she asked, and Kisame smiled evilly.

They charged at each other on the same time.

Their kunai's clashed, and Kisame drew forth his Samehada. Hina got a bit crept out, but didn't think too much of it. She dodged it quickly, and jumped onto the wide blade, two shuriken's in her hands. Kisame saw where she was going and lifted Samehada quickly so Hina got pushed off the blade, but she threw the shuriken's, and he used Samehada to block.

Hina pretended to do some handsigns, while really just lifted the water with her own mind. The water went just where she told it and didn't disappear before she let it go. Then the wind creased and ice was made out of the water. She splashed Kisame and the wind creased even more, and soon Kisame was standing inside one millimeter of ice. He quickly shook it off before it froze him, but then he realized that he was getting weaker.

"A trick I learned from a very skilled friend," Hina said and held up a bottle of some liquid.

"What it is?" Kisame asked with a wicked smile.

"Syrup," she said and Kisame chuckled like if she was mad. "No, no kidding," she said, "It's syrup. It blocks your skin from breathing and with the right mix of syrup and carbon dioxide inside the ice; the skin withdraws its chakra to spare power."

_**Itachi POV**_

Kisame looked at her incredulously. Itachi could see it from far away. He had been spying on them for quite some time, and he wasn't proud of it, but he needed to know who Lucia was.

Kisame then smiled. "Who thought you that?" he asked.

She smiled. "A guy named Kotetsu," she said and Itachi's breath caught in his throat. "He is a ninja living in the village I'm from."

Itachi looked dumbfounded at the girl twenty meters away. Kotetsu was the post in Konoha. He loved syrup, everybody knew that. And he was the only one Itachi knew of that would figure out of such a thing. How could Lucia know of that when she was from the Cloud-village? Itachi shook his head. Maybe there was a syrup-based guy up there as well, but by the name of Kotetsu? No, this was no coincidence.

And then everything was as clear as a sunny day to him. The reminder of Hina every time he saw Lucia. The fact that Pein didn't tell him the truth. The fact that Sasori, Deidara and Konan knew the truth. How hyper she was when not serious. The blush when she smiled so warmly up at him for giving her something to drink. The questions about his past and why he killed his clan.

Itachi looked intensely at Lucia. Could it be that the girl standing right there in front of him, was Takahashi Hina?

* * *

**o.O Cliffhanger! ^^ And just to be cruel; I won't upload in three **_**weeks**_** but for every review I get, one week disappears. Meaning, if I get two reviews, only one week, then the reviews counts as days, meaning if I get four reviews, only five days. If I get eight reviews, tomorrow! The chapter is done, waiting obediently to be put out on FanFiction, but then I need reviews!!! Oh yeah. I know. I'm cruel! ^^ MOAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!**

**OH! And PS: **_Chocoholic93_**'s review doesn't count! I was thinking about not letting **_Kuro Shinen Akuma_**'s count either, but I went soft… Eh, NOT! But she gave me a map to the mountain of chocolate for chocolate's sake!**

**AND PSS: If you have any idea of what the mission Sasori and Chieko had to go on, let me know, all right? Because I have **_**no**_** idea! ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	20. XX

**Oh! No! Here comes **_**the**_** chap! I really hope you like it! Seriously! **

**But first! To my reviewers!!! ^^**

_Chocoholic_**: You're welcome for the Deidara-thing. And the second part; BECAUSE IT'S FUCKING HILARIOUS TO SEE YOU ANGRY!!! ^^ (Sry for the cursing… Or not…) HEY! You… OROMADANZO!**

_Cheetay_**: Oh! ME LIKEY! That's SO gonna be the mission, and they're gonna be all, WTF?! When they find out! MOAHAHAHA!! Thanks girl ^^ And yeah, it was about time, right? I mean, it took me twenty chapters… :S ;) OH! A white chocolate!!! (AAAAAhhh!)**

_Kuro Shinen Akuma_**: Yeah, weasel! Back off! ;)**

**THANKS GUYS!!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the ninja world of Masashi Kishimoto. You wanna know why? I'm not Masashi Kishimoto ^^, or maybe this icon is better; **

**Claimer: I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko ^^**

**ENJOY PPZ!!!**

* * *

**Chapter 20: Finding out, anger and interruptions**

_**Hina POV**_

Hina laughed at Kisame's dumbness and he narrowed his eyes. Then Itachi walked out of the trees. Hina constantly found that her heart started to beat faster when she saw him.

Kisame smiled gleefully. "Hey, Itachi!" he said, and Itachi nodded to him.

"What's up?" Hina asked to keep a normal person's attitude.

"Actually, I want to talk with you, Lucia, in privet," Itachi said, eying Kisame to see if he got it, and for once the fish didn't ask questions.

Hina was a bit nervous, though. Maybe he had decided to tell her the truth? Kisame walked away, giving them some smiles, which Hina returned, and Itachi nodded to.

_**Itachi POV**_

Itachi looked at Lucia as Kisame walked away. How was it possible? She couldn't be, could she? But he had to find out just who she was anyways. It was driving him mad. He really needed to know who his partner really was.

"What is it, Itachi?" Lucia asked, and he frowned.

"I need to ask you something," Itachi said, and Lucia motioned for him to go on. "Why do you want to know about why I killed my clan?" he asked.

It seemed to catch Lucia off guard. She then started smiling. "I'm just curious," she said.

Itachi walked over to her. "Don't lie to me," he said, letting some anger show in his voice.

Lucia shrugged. "I really am," she said.

"Well, okay, you're curious, but for what reason are you curious?" Itachi asked, and Lucia frowned.

"I don't really know. I guess you're just rather intriguing," she said.

"And so are you," Itachi said, "But I want to know why."

"And I told you."

"Then _who_ are you?" Itachi snapped.

Lucia looked shocked at him. Then she regained her composure. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Don't play ignorant. I know you're not who you say you are. Pein as much as confirmed it, but I want to know who," Itachi said, calmer now. Lucia looked down. "Do I know you?" Itachi then asked, and Lucia looked up, surprising Itachi when he saw the tears in her eyes.

"I can't tell you," she said in a thick voice.

She turned to run away, but Itachi was expecting that and grabbed her wrist before he pushed her against a tree. His arms were outstretched and his hands were resting on the tree on either side of her head, and his feet were placed too close to her to have any chance to run away.

"Who are you?" Itachi pressed.

Lucia's eyes were wide with shock. Then she closed them. "I think you already know," she said calmly before she opened her eyes and her hair's color dulled and became darker in a brown color.

It also grew, and got longer. Her blue eyes got a bit lighter until they were green-grayish. She also grew a bit in length, around three cm. Her white skin changed color into the sweet tanned one.

Itachi looked shocked at the girl locked between his arms with no place to go. His heart started to pound in his chest like crazy. He felt so warm all of a sudden, and his hands started to tremble. It was no wonder, because before him stood the one he had always loved. The one he always thought about. The one who haunted his dreams. The one who he left with no other choice. The one he thought would hate him like hell. The one called Takahashi Hina.

_**Hina POV**_

Hina looked up at Itachi with tear-filled eyes. His eyes were wide with shock. His breath was uneven. He seemed whiter than usual. Then his right hand left the tree and, Hina didn't even think he was aware of what he was doing, gently touched her hair, letting his hand slip down it, and when reaching the end, twirling a strand of it around his finger.

Then he seemed to slip out of his daze, and lifted his hand to caress her cheek. She couldn't do anything but lean into the touch. Her heart sped real fast at that point. She felt kinda dizzy, actually. Like a person on a happy pill.

"Why?" Itachi suddenly asked. Hina looked confused at him. "Why did you come after me?" he elaborated, his voice quiet.

"Because I know you," Hina said with confidence that didn't show on her face, just her voice.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"That I know you. You wouldn't go killing your clan for no reason, okay? I know you," she said.

"How can you be so sure that I didn't lie to you all the time?" he asked.

"Because no actor is that good. Not even you," Hina said.

"And how do you know that?" Itachi asked, now truly confused.

"Because I … I just do, okay?" she snapped.

"Not good enough," Itachi said.

"Then what is? What is good enough for you?" Hina asked angrily.

Itachi understood. He got the question. "You think _you_'re not good enough for me?" he asked, his voice incredulous. Hina didn't say anything. "You've got to be kidding me," he said quietly.

"Can you blame me? You left without saying goodbye. You just left. Have you any idea of how much…" Hina trailed off, feeling like a hypocrite.

"How much it hurt?" Itachi asked; his voice more silenced than last he spoke.

"I don't know what pain you've been going through for the past six years, but I only had you. And when you left, you shattered my heart," Hina said, "And I took care of Sasuke, because I knew you wanted me to. I grew fond of him, no matter how he hated you, and how much I couldn't understand why. I threw away _my_ life to make sure that at least Sasuke was okay.

"I was a kid, taking care of a younger kid. I stopped being a kunoichi, and only trained Sasuke. And then he left. He left so he could kill you. I didn't want that, and I couldn't sit around doing nothing when I should be out looking for you. And that's just what I did."

Itachi didn't say anything for a while. His eyes were sore with pain, and Hina almost wished she hadn't told him. "But why don't you hate me?" he asked eventually.

"Because I don't think you did it out of the coldness of your heart, and there's no use denying it. You told me that you had to choose out of two evils," Hina said.

"I told Lucia," Itachi corrected.

"Who was really me," Hina added.

They stared intensely at each other. Hina had not meant for it to happen like this. She wanted to make him understand that she would not give up before he told her the truth. But she hadn't wished him to be so confused and angry when she took of her disguise.

But what had she really expected? A hug? A kiss? She couldn't understand why she had wanted it, not while looking angrily up into his eyes. But then she noticed how his eyes moved. And not a normal movement. He looked into her eyes, then his eyes flickered to her mouth and back up again, like in a bad cliché movie. But this wasn't a movie. This was real life. And in real life, it felt good.

Hina partly blushed, knowing what would happen, long before it did. Itachi cupped her face with his hands. A nervous tingle could be noticed in Hina's stomach. Itachi then bent and gently pressed his lips against hers.

Hina's heart pushed so fast that she wondered how it could still be intact. It should've been blown to pieces by the touch. She now understood what Deidara meant about art. _This_ was an explosion. His lips were oh-so-soft and moved carefully against hers, creating a lusty girl. She couldn't help it; she completely lost control and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him feverishly back.

It didn't take long for him to lose it as well, and he pushed her up against the tree, and she wrapped her feet around his waist. Itachi bit down on her lip, making her gasp and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue past her lips, something she didn't seem to mind.

Their tongues played together, and his travelled the length of hers, making her moan. His hands left her cheeks and rested on her hips. She pulled out his pony-tail and twined her fingers into the silk-like black long hair.

"Oh my, I didn't know you had it in yah, Itachi," Kisame's voice said from the side.

Itachi and Hina both pulled apart quickly, Hina blushing furiously. She then looked at Kisame and narrowed her eyes; Did he _have_ to ruin the moment?

Kisame quirked an eyebrow and turned to Itachi. "Where did Lu go? Pein wanted to talk to her," he said.

Hina slapped her forehead mentally. _That's_ _why he ruined the moment? He thought I was some random girl? Wow. I guess I have to tell him the truth_, she thought.

Itachi looked at Hina. She smiled. "I am Lucia," she said to Kisame and his chin fell to the ground.

Then he frowned. "Riiight! You got me there," he said, "She's a cheeky one! She's kinda like L-" he looked at her. "No way!" he exclaimed.

Hina chuckled and took on the disguise again, and then it was off. Kisame looked astonished at her. "Okay, then I'll tell the truth," she said and sat down, Kisame following her lead.

Itachi looked at them. "I think I'll go back to the cave," he said.

"No, you sit. I want to talk to you afterwards," Hina said with small eyes.

"Riiight. Talk," Kisame said. Tip; Note the sarcasm.

"Oh, shut it fish-boy," Hina snapped playfully. Then she started to explain once Itachi sat down.

* * *

**Okay, first of all, I am aware that this might be a little OOCness from Itachi's side, and I'll try to keep him in character a bit better… But he's not gonna be the careface around Hina. I mean, for God's sake! He loves her! ^^ If there's anything you'd like me to add, like a lemon or something between someone else than Itachi and Hina, let me know, all right? I know **_Kuro Shinen Akuma_** would be very happy for a Sasori-lemon, so I'll try to put it in somewhere, and I owe it to **_Chocoholic93_** to make one between Ami and Deidara as well, so… ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	21. XXI

**Okay, folks… I'm so sorry that it took me more than a WEEK to add this chapter! I'm falling into a bad routine! Please forgive me! And I do hope you'll enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Akatsuki's or Naruto characters. They all belong to their rightful creator. **

**Claimer: I do own Hina, Ami and Chieko.**

_Cheetay_**: Hah, that means you'll continue reading it! I'm HAPPY! And I love the idea, so I had to use it, yah know ^^**

_ToLazyToLogIn_**: Thank you! I will add some Deidara 'action'. If I didn't, my friend would kill me… So, yeah, it is to be expected. I'm not really sure what you mean about the POVs thing, so if you could send a PM on what you mean, it would be great! I'm glad you like it, and I hope you'll continue reading it ^^**

_VampireGirl Shiori Uchiha_**: Thanks girl! ^^ Here's your *cough* late *cough* update! ^^**

* * *

**Chapter 21: The truth becoming clearer**

_**Hina POV**_

Kisame seemed pretty shocked when Hina was done telling the story.

"Well, I guess there is no longer any reason to keep it secret," she said when she was done. She rose. "Let's go back," she said and the others got to their feet.

"Wasn't there something you wanted to tell me?" Itachi asked.

Kisame snorted, still believing there was nothing more than making out behind his thoughts. Hina reached up and slapped him across his back-head. "Ouch! Lu! Why did you do that?" he asked hurt.

"It's Hina," Hina said.

"Right, but then I don't have a nickname for you! And you still have fish-boy!" he whined.

Hina chuckled and shook her head. "Fine, you can call me Lu," she said.

Kisame beamed at her. She rolled her eyes.

Then she turned to Itachi. "I forgot what it was," she said with an innocent smile. The two of them sweat-dropped.

When they reached the cave, Hina snickered at Hidan's shocked look. "Who the fuck is this?" he snapped, "It's fucking illegal to bring some fucking random bitch to this hideout!"

Itachi narrowed his eyes when Hidan said bitch.

Hina frowned. "I'm not some fucking random bitch, you fucking dickhead," she snapped, "I am _the_ fucking bitch!"

Kisame snorted. "Too true," he mumbled.

"Well, Miss Bitch, you want to come to my fucking room? Then I can fucking sacrifice you to Jashin!" Hidan snapped.

"Jashin? Well, I'm not as stupid as to believe in some random God, so fuck no!" Hina snarled.

"Jashin-sama is NOT random!" Hidan exploded.

Kakuzu was suddenly behind Hidan, holding him back.

"Shut up, Hidan," Kakuzu said, and then he looked at Itachi and Kisame and said in a carefree tone: "You know very well that it's illegal to bring an outsider to the inside."

Itachi was about to say something when Hidan shrieked: "EXACTLY! SO LET ME JUST FUCKING KILL THAT FUCKING BITCH BY SACRIFICING HER TO JASHIN-SAMA!"

Itachi made a move to charge at him, but stopped immediately. Hina followed his look and saw Pein stand in the shadows.

"Hina, Kisame, Itachi, let _me_ take care of this," he said in his superior, and I-am-the-duke-bitches – tone. The three of them nodded and left immediately.

Kisame left the two of them when they passed his room. Itachi's and Hina's were further down the hall. They walked in an uncomfortable silence for a while.

"How is he?" Itachi suddenly said.

Hina looked shocked at him, and then smiled to him.

"He left Konoha when I did. I have no idea," she said, "But I doubt that Naruto and Sakura are ever gonna give up on him."

Itachi smiled a bit at that. But it soon vanished. He looked straight forward as he said: "And you?"

Hina shrugged. "I've dealt with it better than him," she said.

"How?"

"Because I wasn't the one who met you in the streets. I guess I just didn't believe what Sasuke said. At least not all of it," Hina said, looking at the floor.

"But why are you so certain that I didn't tell the truth back then?" Itachi asked.

Hina smiled. "I dunno. I guess I just didn't wanna believe it. But now I _know_ there's more to it," she said, "And that is what I do. I hunt the truth, and don't judge a person before I know it." She said it so simply. Like if there was no problem in the world. "I mean, of course it was hard at first. It was so frustrating to not know. So I decided to find it out," she added.

They stopped as they reached Itachi's room.

"I'm not giving up, you know. I will figure out of the truth, with or without your help. If I so have to blackmail the kage," Hina said.

"The kage who knows is dead, Hina," Itachi said silently.

"HAH! Got 'cha! It had to do with a kage?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Itachi closed his eyes. "K'so," he said. (Damn)

Hina snickered, but she then turned serious.

"Wait. A kage was involved. And you had a choice," she said, and Itachi got a bit stiff to know she was that close to the truth, and she said: "It was an order, wasn't it?"

Her voice was filled with shock and realization. Itachi didn't do anything to confirm it, but by not denying it, it made it clear that Hina had hit the nail. She bit her lip, and then embraced him. He stiffened, but soon laid his arms around her.

She rested her head on his chest, listening to the soothing beat of his heart. The warmth oozing from his body was too good to be true. She squeezed a bit, nuzzling into his chest. His lips pressed against the top of her head. They stood like that for a while, but then parted.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Hina said, "But now I have to go tell Ami and Chieko that-"

"_Ami_ is Mai?" Itachi asked incredulously.

Hina snickered. "Yeah," she said.

Itachi shrugged, composing himself again. "Okay, good night," he said and kissed her forehead.

She smiled to him and then ran down the hall to Deidara's room. That's where they always hung out.

_**Ami POV**_

"Yeah?" Deidara said as someone knocked on his door.

Ami quickly put on her disguise again, Sasori and Chieko hurrying her.

"Yeah, yeah!" Ami nearly shouted.

The door opened.

"Relax guys, it's me," Hina's voice said.

Everyone in the room lost their chins when they saw she was in her real form, _hanging_ in the door, excluding Sasori, of course. He was careface.

"_Get in you careless bitch_!" Ami hissed and Chieko dragged her in.

Hina laughed.

"Are you high or something?" Chieko asked incredulously.

Hina smiled and rolled her eyes. "Itachi knows," she said.

Ami and Chieko stared at her. Then they both jumped up.

"NO WAY!" Chieko exclaimed.

"OMJ!" Ami shrieked.

Deidara looked amused at the girls. Sasori only watched.

Ami then smirked. "How was the reunion?" she asked while raising her eyebrows up and down.

Hina would normally just frown, but the remembrance of Itachi's lips made her blush ever so slightly.

"OH MY HOLY JASHIN!" Ami screamed.

"Who fucking said that?" Hidan asked sticking his head inside the door, making all of them sweat-drop, including Sasori this time.

Hidan then frowned. "I guess you're the other fucking bitch, Mai," he said and looked at Ami, Deidara narrowed his eyes.

"The name's Ami," Ami said with a smirk.

Hidan then looked at Chieko. "You don't have to hide anymore now. Even though you might have chosen such a beautiful disguise, and you look like hell under it, it doesn't matter," he said.

Chieko blushed. Hina noticed Sasori's eyes narrow.

"Chieko has no disguise," Ami snickered.

Hidan raised an eyebrow. "Meaning you'll stay beautiful?" he asked.

Chieko was now on fire. Sasori looked like he could kill Hidan.

Ami then said: "Wow, you haven't cursed since you asked who said 'Oh my holy Jashin'."

Hidan narrowed his eyes. "What the fuck is your problem?" he snarled.

Deidara rose immediately.

Hina fell to the floor laughing. Everyone turned to look at her. She stopped and gasped for breath and said: "You sure know how to make someone aware of their feelings, Hidan!" Then she started laughing again.

They all looked confused at her before Hidan turned and left saying: "Whatever."

* * *

**I hope you liked it! If you di~d! Tell me!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	22. XXII

**OH YEAH! New chapter bitches! I hope you have one heck of a ride through this, since it contains a lemon! Now the lemon isn't serious. Well it is, but I don't have a lot of the last details. Saving that for another time. Another **_**special**_** time. ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters Goddammit! You GET IT?**

**Claimer: HOWEVER! I OWN Hina, Ami, Chieko and whoever isn't in the Naruto series, OKAY?**

_Chocoholic93_**: GD, did you eat chocolate?**

**DUH!**

_Chocoholic93_**: WHERE? I NEED CHOCOLATE!**

_Colafangirl93_**: AND COKE!**

**Sweatdopping… ENJOY IT BITCHES!**

**OH! PS: The lemon is between horisontal lines, meaning, you won't have to read it if you don't wanna! ^^**

* * *

**Chapter 22: The truth of past and feelings**

The next morning, Hina woke up with a smiled on her face. Her smile grew even wider, seeing the sun, and, if possible, bigger as she remembered that Itachi knew, and she had kissed him. But she still needed the entire truth. Like why had Sarutobi ordered/asked Itachi to kill his own clan? This was a very essential question.

She threw on her ninja clothes; a white top and black shorts barely reaching her knees. She tied her pouch with weapons on her hips, grabbing her longer, brown hair and tying it in a long pony-tail. She walked out of the room with happy steps. She walked into the kitchen, and almost bumped into Sasori.

"Hey!" she said happily. He only nodded.

"I know you're into Chieko," Hina then said, and Sasori turned immediately and snapped: "I am not!"

"What? Did I hit a nerve?"

Sasori narrowed his eyes at her. Then Itachi walked into the kitchen. Hina beamed at him and then walked over to the fridge to get some chocolate, but Itachi shut the door before she could take it. Sasori walked out.

"I know what chocolate does to you this early in the morning," Itachi said silently.

Hina smiled innocently. "I wasn't looking for chocolate," she lied with a sweet tone.

"Hn," Itachi said and grabbed her arm pulling her towards him. She smiled to him as they stood close, and she hugged him. He rested his forehead in the crook of her neck.

"I missed you," he said silently.

"As did I," Hina muttered, happy no longer a word to her, since it had so little meaning to how she felt at that point.

"Ehm." The two of them turned around and saw Konan stand in the door-opening. "Sorry to interrupt, but I got to get chocolate to Chieko and Ami for some absurd reason," she said.

Hina positioned herself in front of the fridge. "Don't think so, Candy," she said. Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we made her a C!" Hina said happily.

"Hn," he said and then he _walked_ out of the kitchen.

Hina narrowed her eyes. "That dickhead," she said incredulously.

Konan smiled. "You are much closer than I ever thought was possible with Itachi," she said.

"He was ma man," Hina said in a fake accent.

"Was? From what it looked like, it's more like is," Konan said.

"No, he ain't ma man anymore. He's ma bitch," Hina said with an innocent smile.

Konan laughed.

"I heard that," Itachi said as he walked into the kitchen again. Hina smiled angelic at him.

"That doesn't work on me," Itachi reminded her.

"Crap," Hina said.

Konan then snuck past her and grabbed some chocolate from the fridge.

"SAVE SOME FOR ME!" Hina bellowed at the blue-head.

"YEAH!" Konan yelled back.

Hina rolled her eyes. "She still doesn't know us that well," she said, "Because there is no saving chocolate."

Deidara chose that time to walk into the kitchen. "Well oh be," he said, "The lovey-dovey couple."

Hina rolled her eyes again. "Says the Ami-lover," she said.

Deidara frowned. Then he turned to Itachi. "You're standing in my way to get to the fridge," he snapped. Itachi looked impassively at the blond dude.

"Will yah move, yeah?" Deidara then said, even ruder.

"Watch your mouth, Deidara," Hina snarled. The two boys both looked shocked at her.

Then Deidara said: "And who are you to tell me that?"

"Takahashi Hina. Someone who can tell her friend that you're a complete loser," Hina said with evil eyes.

Deidara turned to Itachi again. "Can you please move?" he asked with reluctant kindness, and Itachi stepped to the side, closer to Hina, something she didn't mind.

Deidara walked over to the fridge, and Hina looked up at Itachi, who looked down at her. They walked out of the kitchen and out of the hideout over to the waterfall. They looked deep into each other's eyes. Her in his red, and he in her green. Then Itachi's face lit up and he smiled.

Hina's legs started wobbling, because, Kami, he looked good smiling! He pulled her closer, laying his arm around her waist, she smiled up at him. She knew what was coming. It was so easy to see the insecure look in his eyes. She knew he would tell her the truth now, and she knew that he'd be afraid the truth wouldn't be enough.

"Just tell me," Hina eventually said.

Itachi sighed. Then he sat down, Hina following his lead, sitting closely beside him.

"The long, or the short?" Itachi asked.

"The short, definitely," Hina said with a snicker.

"The Uchiha-clan was planning an attack on Konoha, because they wanted the power. I knew this, since I was a part of the meetings at a very young age. I loved my village, and I wanted nothing but protect it.

"So I went to the Hokage, Shimura Danzo, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura to tell them what I knew. I became a spy. They wanted me to destroy the clan, and I did, because it was that, or the village. But I couldn't kill Sasuke," he said in fast words, adding the last part with a sad voice.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Hina asked, her voice hoarse from sorrow.

Itachi looked down at her, where she had laid her head on his lap.

"I didn't want him to hate his own family. Besides, he'd follow me, and I didn't want him to live the same life as me," Itachi explained.

"But why didn't you tell the village?" Hina pried. "Because it would cause uproar against the Hokage. Then the village's destruction would have happened no matter," Itachi said. Hina sat up beside him.

Itachi followed her with his eyes, which turned round when he saw that her eyes were moist. "Don't cry," he said.

"You went through your whole life pretending to be a criminal to protect your village?" she more stated than asked with a thick voice.

"It was my decision," Itachi said, "I decided to kill them."

"You could also have decided to tell me. I was your girlfriend at an age of thirteen. You would never expect me to follow you. You knew I most likely wouldn't, just to protect Sasuke," Hina said with a calm voice.

Itachi was silent for a while. "I don't know why I didn't tell you, I just thought it might be best," he said.

"But you told me now," Hina pointed out, tears building in her eyes.

"Because I couldn't get myself to find another reason for why I shouldn't," Itachi said.

Hina didn't even try to stop the tears. She had a reason to cry. She didn't feel weak when crying, anyways. She always let things happen, and never had she taken life into her own hands like now. Itachi cupped her face and stroked away the tears, which only got replaced by new ones.

Hina tried to smile to him, but it only came out as a fragile thing. She took a deep, shaky breath and ordered as calmly as possible: "Kiss me."

Itachi smiled and said: "Commands don't suit me well, but since it's you." He leaned in and pressed his soft lips to hers.

* * *

She felt her heart-rate quicken and kissed him back with more movement. Their lips had always suited together, and now was not an exception. Their lips just filled every single part of each other's lips. Itachi pulled Hina closer, and she straddled his lap not breaking the kiss, pulling out his pony-tail and curling her fingers into the hair. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and the two tongues battled playfully.

Hina then untangled her fingers and pushed Itachi down on his back, keeping the tongue movement. She could feel him getting harder, and she smiled against his lips. Then Itachi forced Hina over on her back and pinned her to the grass. He kissed her chin-line and Hina's breath was uneven and drew deep breaths when Itachi reached her collarbone and nipped it, making her moan. She could feel him smirk and sucked a bit, drawing another moan from the brown-haired girl.

He kissed up her neck and returned his attention to her lips. Her hands travelled down his stomach and slid her hand softly over the growing erection, causing him to moan into her mouth. She couldn't help but smile at the sound of his moan.

Then she pushed her hands up under his shirt, her hand crossing a nipple. He groaned softly, and Hina dragged at the end of his shirt, and the kiss broke as the fabric got over Itachi's head. Then Itachi looked at Hina with very passionate eyes, making her blush.

"I just love it when you blush," he muttered in her ear causing her to blush even more. Then she grew impatient dragging him closer again.

"Are you sure you want this?" Itachi asked, his voice now worried.

"I'm fully capable to take care of myself, 'Tachi," she said with a smirk.

"Oh, I know," Itachi said, smiling by the sound of his old nickname.

They started kissing again, their clothes disappearing in an instant and the screams of pleasure from the both of them, before Itachi collapsed onto Hina, and they both heaved for breath. As they got their breath back, they took on some clothes, but Hina got a mischievous smile on her mouth as they only stood in their pants, and in her case, bra.

* * *

Itachi frowned. "What?" he asked carefully, knowing that smile.

Hina smiled sweetly. "Nuuuthing," she said, but then water was all around them, pushing them off the cliff, into the river.

* * *

**Did you like it? I mean, did you? That would be great! And if you did! I'll give you chocolate! But I'll only know if you review, my youthful readers! :D:D:D:D**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	23. XXIII

**New chappie guys! And so soon! ^^ GD is a good girl! Meaning, I'm ANTI-TOBI! ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters, okay? Deal with it.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina, Chieko and whomever you never saw in the manga/anime. Plus the plot! MOAHAHAHAHAHAAA!**

**Arigato to my lovely reviewers:**

_Cheetay_**: Here it is! The MISSION! o.O**

_Me duuh_**: So, Cookie. You're starting to look like me. Not bothering to log in when giving reviews. First it's the pre-senility thingy. Now it's lazyness. Well, I gotta admit, it is a drag… ;) And you know that if anyone would fit in that jumpsuit, it would be me. No kidding. I'd just add my own twist. And girls with curves is all it takes. Gai and Rock Lee… Well, they have 'curves' somewhere else. Which can't be big, seeing that we can't really see them… Even in the jumpsuit. Aaanywaysss! GAH! ITACHI WITH BLONDE HAIR? WTF girl! NEVER EVER SAY SUCH A THING! :S**

**Now people, ENJOY! Or I'll have to send Zetsu on you. And you know I don't want to do that…**

* * *

**Chapter 23: Underneath the surface**

Underneath the surface was a man that Hina still knew. Underneath the surface, he still loved his family. Underneath the surface, it was painfully obvious that he hated every part in his life. Underneath the surface, he was in pain.

Hina swam over to him, and laid her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. He laid his arms around her shoulders, pressing her closer. They were under the surface, but Hina made a bubble for them to be able to breathe. They just floated there for as long as they wanted, but then the two of them looked up, feeling a chakra-source.

They both broke from the comfort and swam to the surface, heads looking up. When they broke the surface, they saw Hidan stand there. He frowned when he saw them.

"Wow, I didn't fucking know you were that fucking wild, Uchiha," he said.

Hina rolled her eyes and climber ashore. Hidan stared. Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, jeez," Hina said and made the water carry her over to the cliff, pushing Itachi with her.

As they reached the cliff, Hina snickered silently and Itachi quirked an eyebrow. "Jealous much?" she teased.

Itachi rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. They took on the rest of their clothes and walked back to the hideout.

As they walked into the cave, Hina tumbled over a puppet.

Itachi grabbed her upper-arm. "Still a bit clumsy," he mumbled.

Hina smiled. Then she yelled: "SASORI! WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A FUCKING PUPPET IN THE FUCKING DOOR? I ALMOST FUCKING SMASHED IT!"

Sasori was there in the blink of an eye, and looked angrily at her. "It's called _art_," he snapped, took the puppet and walked out of the hall.

Hina laughed as Ami and Deidara sneaked out of the cubit.

"Prank?" Hina asked, and the two of them nodded.

"Deidara is officially a C!" Ami said.

Hina smiled. "Wow, the first boy," she said, "What's his name?"

"CALIENTE!" Ami shrieked.

Hina sweat-dropped.

Deidara smiled. "I don't really know what it means, but it's cool," he said.

"It means 'hot'," Hina said.

Ami shot her friend death-glares.

"Oh! I wasn't supposed to tell?" Hina asked, pretending to be confused and looking innocent while holding her hand in front of her mouth acting surprised.

Ami pouted then stomped away. Deidara smirked and followed her. Hina shook her head in resignation. The two of them, Hina and Itachi, walked further into the cave.

They both knew where they were going, and when they reached the destination, they opened the door, and closed it, falling down on the soft bed. Hina curled up to Itachi's side, lying her head on his chest. Itachi's left arm was supporting her, and stroking her long, brown hair, and his right hand was resting on her back. They soon drifted off to sleep.

_**Ami POV**_

Ami ran over the fields outside, trying to figure out a prank Konan could do, and had the most genius one when Deidara came. "Caliente!" she yelled happily. He smirked. "You know, I prefer Dei-kun," Ami added thoughtfully.

Deidara chuckled. "You are so weird, yeah," he said.

"Yeah, look who's talking," Ami said.

"Hey guys!" Chieko's voice said from the trees, and she and Sasori walked out.

The height-difference between those two was massive. He was 164, she was 177, but no matter, they just seemed so natural. Besides, he was 35 years. That made up for the difference.

"Hey Cozy!" Ami yelled back.

Deidara nodded to Sasori, who nodded back. Chieko and Ami rolled their eyes.

"You guys are so _stiff_!" Chieko exclaimed.

"You _need_ to loosen up a bit!" Ami exclaimed.

Deidara snickered, and Sasori smiled. _HOLD IT! Sasori … _smiled_? Wow_, Ami thought.

"Anyways! That mission you were on not too long ago… What was it?" Ami asked.

Chieko smirked. "We had to find a magical purple pickle," she said.

Deidara and Ami blinked. Then they both laughed hysterically.

"What the hell do you need a magical pickle for, yeah?" Deidara asked incredulously.

"Leader needed it for something. I don't know what, though," Sasori said.

"Oh, I got that, but what the hell does he need with a pickle? And a purple at that?" Ami asked.

"Maybe he wanted a change of hair-color, un?" Deidara suggested, and everyone went silent as the image of Pein with purple hair took its place in their mind.

Then Chieko said: "Oh, crap! I have to go back!"

Ami frowned. "Why?" she asked.

"Because- because," Chieko 'explained'.

Ami rolled her eyes. "Just tell me!" she snapped.

"No," Chieko said.

"Fine," Ami said.

"Good."

"Great."

"Excellent."

"Brilliant."

Chieko smiled and turned and left, Sasori following her.

"Oh, don't they make an excellent couple?" Ami asked Deidara too loud for said 'couple' to not hear.

Chieko blushed, and Sasori couldn't help it. He smiled again. Ami turned to Deidara.

"You're good at MatchMaker, yeah," he said.

"Yeah, but not best. If I was, Konan and Pein would've been together a long time ago, and so would Kakuzu and Hidan," Ami said.

"WHAT? Bad mental images, yeah!" Deidara exclaimed.

Ami laughed. "I need better! Give me some mental images! -un" he said.

"You and Itachi," Ami said dreamily.

Deidara harked. "Whaaaaat? You're sick, yeah!" he shrieked.

"Me in underwear," Ami joked.

Deidara got a real dreamy look on his face.

Ami punched him. "It was a JOKE!" she screamed.

"But it worked! -un" Deidara said, holding the spot where Ami hit him.

"You … you … pervert!" Ami exclaimed.

"Is that all you got, yeah?" he asked.

"Right now, yes. Tomorrow, no," Ami said with a smirk.

"Then I can't wait for tomorrow, un," Deidara said.

"So, you like me in my underwear?" Ami asked.

Deidara blushed. "I never said that, un," he said.

"Well, you didn't really have to," she said.

Deidara huffed.

"So you like my body?" Ami asked.

Deidara didn't say anything to deny it, but didn't do anything to confirm it either.

"I take that as a 'yes'. Is it just my body?" Ami asked, her voice harsh now.

Deidara smirked. "No," he said.

Ami shook her head. "What else? Don't tell, just show," she said.

Deidara positioned himself in front of her. "C-"

"Shh!" Ami interrupted.

"Can I ju-"

"Shh!" Ami interrupted again.

Deidara rolled his eyes, and pointed at her, pressing the tip of his finger on her heart. Then he bent and kissed her lightly. Ami smiled against his lips and laid her arms around his neck before she started kissing back.

_**Hina POV**_

Hina woke feeling her head move in tact with Itachi's breathing. She smiled. She was with him. This was where she was. Where she belonged. She loved him so much, it actually made her heart ache. To fall in love at the age of thirteen isn't really healthy, and neither was Itachi for her, but she fell in love, and she intended to stay in love with him. He was the one she loved, and he always would be.

A groan came from Itachi when he awoke. She rested her chin on his chest looking down at him with loving eyes. He halfway smiled to her, lifting his right hand to brush some hair behind her ear.

Then he pushed her over to her back, kissing her greedily. It surprised her greatly, but she did respond in every way she could. His tongue licked her bottom lip asking for entrance which she gladly gave. His tongue explored her mouth, and she moaned at his soft muscle rolling in her mouth.

Then he pulled away and smiled down at her in such a soft way, her heart stopped for a minute. He was so beautiful. And it hurt so badly how gorgeous he was. He placed a finger on her mouth oh so softly. Then he sat up. She sat beside him and they both got ready.

"Hold it," Hina said as he was on his way out of the room. He turned back to her and she winked him closer. He walked over to her. "Your hair," she said and turned him around, pressuring him to sit down on the floor, something he did and she sat on the edge of the bed.

Hina took off the bond keeping his hair together, and put it down beside her. She ran her fingers through his long, silk hair, smiling as she did. It was so nostalgic. She grabbed the bond on her side and started swirling it around his long hair and then saw it.

It was the red bond she had given him all those years ago. She remembered the pain when she knew he had left. That the mission two days later had been the one where he killed his family. It was the last time she ever saw him before he left. She smiled when she was done and leaned down to kiss his neck. He leaned against her touch as she did, and then she rose, dragging Itachi with her.

He smiled. "Still the same girl with annoyance towards those who think you're weak," he said.

Hina wasn't so sure on what he meant, but figured it was the fact that she helped him up and not the other way around, so Hina smiled to him. "You still remember," she mumbled.

"I could never forget you," Itachi said honestly.

Hina smiled widely with a small blush on her face. She felt so warm inside, because she knew;

Underneath the surface, Uchiha Itachi was still alive.

* * *

**GAH! Did you like it? Gomen, if I'm hyper **_**again**_**, but I kinda drank a bit of coke, and this early in the morning doesn't do me any good, sooooo. Demo, I was kind wasn't I? I updated already! ^^ Don't I deserve a few reviews? Hinthint ^^**

**Anyways! I hope ya'll liked the pickle-mission. Got the brilliant idea from miss **_Cheetay_**! So say thanks! I will:**

**ARIGATO GOZAIMASU!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	24. XXIV

**NEW CHAPTER! I know it took too long! Bad me… **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character in the Naruto universe. They all belong to their rightful creator.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko along with the plotline.**

**To my lovely, youthful reviewers!:**

_Cheetay_

_Shirodesu_**: Thank you so much! And I'm sorry you had to wait…**

_VampireGirl Shiori Uchiha_

**ENJOY THE CHAP! ^^**

* * *

**Chapter 24: The impact**

"GUYS! We totally forgot about the prank we have to make Konan pull to become a C!" Ami shrieked on top of her lungs as she came crashing down to the kitchen, every single Akatsuki-member hearing her.

"Oh, come on Cookie! Now everyone knows we'll prank them!" Hina whined.

"No, Crazy. _Now_ everyone knows we'll prank them," Chieko said and smiled at her friends' stupidity.

Ami and Hina frowned. "Damn," they both said and everyone sweat-dropped.

"Well, what the hey!" Hina said and grabbed Konan's arm.

"Let's go anyways!" Ami said and helped to drag the blue-haired up the stairs with the C's.

Chieko followed with a resigned but happy look at Sasori and, a little, the others. Konan only giggled.

Konan was smirking while she made the dinner. The guys stayed away, fearing a prank. However, nothing happened. But since they had been away, Konan had been able to finish the last touch of her assigned prank. That _she_ had invented. Only for the invention, Ami, Hina and Chieko had wanted to add her as a C, but followed their strict rules.

_Strict my ass_, Konan thought as she remembered.

She then smirked as she bellowed: "GUYS! DINNER'S READY!"

Deidara, Ami, Hina, Chieko and Kisame were there first. Then came Sasori, always the one to not let anyone wait. The rest came slowly and carefully, Itachi seemingly keeping near Hina for a reason. He probably had a fare share of the girls' pranks.

"Well, sit down," Konan said and sat down next to Pein's regular seat.

Said person had not arrived yet, luckily. The others sat down carefully, well, except Ami, Hina and Chieko. They almost jumped in their seats, smiling hugely.

"Who?" Itachi whispered to Hina, who smirked.

"Wait and see," she said, and Itachi frowned ever so slightly; he still didn't show too much of his feelings in front of the others.

Konan filled a bowl with hot soup to everyone. Then Pein walked in.

"Yo, leader," Ami said, and Pein gave her a look that clearly said 'RESPECT'.

Ami quirked an eyebrow and Konan chose that time to grab Pein's arm and push him down on his chair, sending him a look, which he ignored. Konan gave him some hot soup and everyone ate in silence, until Konan pressed a button.

Suddenly Pein's face dived into the soup, which splattered everywhere. It was silent for two seconds before Ami, Hina, Chieko and the new C, Konan burst into laughter.

They then jumped up and Konan pressed the button again, and Pein came up for air, orange soup in his hair, face and dripping off his piercings. The four C's laughed at his angry look and then ran for cover before he came chasing after them. Something he didn't do.

"Itachi," he said, angrily, "Deidara, Sasori. Teach those girls some manners."

"Why them?" Hidan whined.

"Because I say so. Besides, you know nothing about manners. Now, I'll have to go find Konan," Pein said, the first part with the superior voice, the second part much softer and more like an afterthought.

He left the room, and Deidara looked shocked after him.

"Okay, that's just plainly weird," Kisame said.

"HEY! What the fuck does he mean about me not having any manners?" Hidan suddenly exclaimed and everybody sweat-dropped.

"He's much more perceptive than I ever gave him credit for," Deidara mumbled after a while.

"Is that a confession?" a girl's voice said behind him.

He turned and Hina stood there.

"If Pein gets back-" Deidara started, but Hina interrupted him by saying: "Oh, he's much too busy to go looking for me when he already caught someone."

Deidara rose immediately. "Ami?" he asked scared.

Hina smirked. "No," she said.

"Chieko?" Sasori asked, trying to cover the anxiety in his voice with a bored voice not really succeeding in Hina's opinion.

"Nope," Hina said.

"Wait! Is Chieko okay?" Hidan suddenly asked.

Hina quirked an eyebrow at him, and soon realization washed over Hidan's face. "Oh," he said.

"Slo~ow," Hina muttered and then grabbed Itachi's arm and dragged him with her, not allowed to finish his soup.

Pein frowned at Konan's angelic, innocent face. "Sorry?" she tried, making Pein's frown deeper.

"Oh, come on, Nag- Pein. It's a long time since there's been any fun in this organization. And they're nice. This was fun, and you know it," Konan said, and she had no idea of how hard those words hit Pein.

Of course he knew that she wasn't happy. But it hurt to hear them so straight forward. He wanted her to be happy. At least as happy as she could be in this world.

But nothing could change the fact that they both suffered. He just hoped that Madara actually knew what he was doing. To the memory of Yahiko, Pein would do what he could to keep Konan safe. He promised himself that as well as Yahiko.

"Pein? What is it?" Konan's voice brought Pein back from his thoughts.

"It's nothing," Pein said, displeased with lying to Konan.

"Yahiko's fine. He is in a better place. He has to be in a better place," Konan said, but the last part was more to convince herself about it.

Pein felt the urge to hug her, and for once, trusting his instincts, he grabbed Konan's arm and pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms securely around her, leaning his chin on the top of her head. He felt Konan stiffen, but she soon relaxed and tied her arms behind his back.

The next day was uneventful. Except the fact that once Ami walked into the kitchen, Hina had eyed her suspiciously, and the two, Chieko and Konan left the room.

"What?" Ami asked Hina who still eyed her suspiciously.

"Cookie. There's something you're not telling us. What is it?" Hina asked.

Ami frowned. "I dunno. Why? I would've told you long ago if it was anything important," she said.

"Oh really? Does Deidara involve important business?" Hina asked.

Ami blushed bright red. Konan opened her eyes wide. Chieko smiled sweetly. Hina smiled triumphantly.

Then Ami's eyes narrowed. "If you knew this, why didn't you ask me yesterday? Or the day before? Hm?" she asked.

Hina smirked. "Because I was otherwise engaged in other matters," she said, sounding professional.

"Did one of those matters contain a certain Uchiha?" Chieko asked confidentially.

Konan was giggling.

"I am not sure. It could be someone else. But I think it was long black hair somewhere," Hina said, and Konan broke into laughter along with Ami.

"Have you _any_ idea how perverted that came out, Crazy? Seriously? Long, black hair, _somewhere_?" Ami exclaimed.

"Oh, BAKA COOKIE!" Hina exclaimed, knowing where she was _going_. "But this wasn't about me! You! Deidara! Now!" Hina shrieked.

Ami smiled innocently. "It was only a kiss," she said with a small shrug.

"A good kiss?" Hina asked with a perverted grin.

"Crazy," Ami warned.

"Fine, fine. I'll stay out of it. But, Candy. You can stop laughing now," Hina said with confused eyes.

Konan was leaning against the wall with a big grin on her face. "It's just, you're all making the most feared missing-nins in the world soften up. I mean, it's just so… weird," she said.

Hina, Ami and Chieko all nodded understandingly.

"I guess it is rather weird. But it's just the impact we have on the people in the world," Chieko said with a shrug.

Konan smiled. "I'm glad you're a part of the organization, girls. You make everything so much more pleasant," she said.

Her voice was a bit sad, though.

"What is it?" Ami asked, having noticed it as well.

"Nuuuthing," Konan said, a big smile flashing her face.

The C-gang all started laughing and ran out of the room, dragging with them the last C, Deidara. They had to make another prank.

* * *

**I have two things to say, plus a small thing, which can be rather big as well. We'll call it number three. ^^**

**I changed my name to Gaara and Itachi's Devil. But I will refer to myself as Gaaras Devil. Just want to show that I love Itachi as well ^^**

**I will stop using POV's. You'll just have to live without it. Now it won't be the Lucia and Mai thing either, so it'll be easier to understand anyways. So… ^^**

**REVIEW! ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	25. XXV

**New chap already? WTF? Am I good, or am I good? ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters or Universe. **

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko along with the plot in this story.**

**To my reviewers!:**

_VampireGirl Shiori Uchiha_

_Cheetay_

**ENJOY PEOPLE! ^^**

* * *

**Chapter 25: Them**

One and a half year had passed and the Akatsuki had gotten further with their plans than suspected. Hina and Ami had taken up dancing to get money, which they earned a lot on and the two plus Chieko had also started singing, which they earned more on. Ami usually took the emotionfilled songs about love. Chieko usually took the high-tones, and Hina often sang rock-songs.

They had played in a lot of different pubs and other stuff. The Akatsuki took turns on when they would go with them, and the most eventful that had happened when they did, was when Hidan and Sasori went. That was… interesting.

Chieko was the only one who could stop them from fighting. It had also revealed their affiliation with the Akatsuki, and the bad thing was they didn't use disguises, meaning most of Konoha already knew Hina, Ami and Chieko were a part of the organization. Hina used the nights praying to Kami that Sasuke hadn't figured it out.

But one thing the girls had reserved them for was to draw out the bijuu from another person. They wouldn't do that. And neither would they hunt them, and should they encounter one, they wouldn't fight them, only tell their location to another one in the organization.

However, the three girls had decided that should they meet Naruto, they wouldn't tell, even if Zetsu was nearby. They would never betray their friends. Even though he wasn't their friend anymore.

Konan had hinted to them that Pein already knew this, but he also knew there was nothing he could do about it. He knew they would rather die, and if that happened, the entire organization would fall apart. Sasori, Hidan, Itachi and Deidara would freak out and go into complete emo-mode, most likely leaving the organization, making them loose one of the strongest in it.

But something was wrong with Pein. Something the three C's would never have noticed unless they paid attention. He left on secret trips all the time, not telling. The reason why he didn't tell was because he left at night and was back in the morning.

The girls had noticed this, because they preferred training when it was dark and raining, making their vision rather dull. They had to be able to sense and see things in the dark as well as being able to hit them. But during the year and a half, nothing much had changed.

Deidara and Ami were still together, and she and Hina did everything they could to get Chieko and Sasori together. The two girls both knew that the soon-to-be couple knew they liked each other, but both were too, well, either stubborn or embarrassed to say anything. Ami and Hina did everything they could to get them alone in the same room, and then, of course, spy.

But Hidan was a problem. He seemed to like Chieko as well, but Chieko never gave the impression that she liked him, so the two C's were a bit worried that the silver-haired would do something he wasn't supposed to.

Right now, Hina was sitting in the living-room being rather quiet for once. The reason was that she was reading a book by Jiraiya that she had always loved. And, no, it wasn't the darn porn books. It was 'The Tales of a Gutsy Ninja'.

She and Ami, when they were young, had broken into the yondaime's office and found the copy. It was a sort of a treasure-hunt. They had gotten two huge candybars for winning, and the joy that day so long ago had been so pleasant.

He had also told them that he and Kushina were planning on calling their son for Naruto like the main character in the book. Everything had seemed so easy back then. Then a presence made itself known to Hina and she smiled as Itachi laid his hands on her shoulders.

"What are you reading?" he asked quietly.

"'The Tales of a Gutsy Ninja'," Hina said softly, looking into his red eyes.

"I've never heard of it," Itachi said and sat down in the couch next to his lover.

"I know, but I think you know the writer," Hina said.

"Who?" Itachi asked simply.

"Jiraiya," Hina said and Itachi raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Really? I didn't think he wrote children's books," he said and Hina nodded.

"No one usually does," she said.

"I heard you and Ami have a mission?" Itachi then asked.

Hina nodded. "We're going to the Country of Fire to get some information from an insider," she said.

Itachi leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Be careful," he said and Hina smiled.

"I never do anything rash," she said.

"Hn," Itachi said.

Hina rolled her eyes. "Whuuutever. But now that you mention it, I guess I have to go get ready," she said and closed the book.

Itachi rose along with her. It had become a habit for them to help the other get ready. They shared the same room, which had come as no surprise to anyone.

Hina and Ami were now partners and had completed a lot of missions during the year. Chieko and Zetsu weren't really partners, but they often helped each other on big missions. Sometimes Chieko came with Ami and Hina on their missions as well, in case they needed to locate someone.

As Hina and Itachi reached the room, he opened the door for her, something she only let him do. She walked in with a small smile and walked directly to the closet.

"What are the mission's risks?" Itachi asked.

"An attack from the nearby temple. Also them requesting backup from Konoha," Hina said.

Itachi frowned. "How do you feel about that?" he asked.

"If they do, we have a backup plan. Meaning we're bringing Cozy with us so she can keep an eye out for trouble," Hina explained.

"That's not what I asked," Itachi said silently.

Hina stopped looking for clothes. She turned to Itachi slowly with sad eyes. "I don't want them to think I'm a criminal, but if that's what takes for me to be with you, I will," she said.

Itachi walked up to her and took her face in his hands. "I don't want to give you so much sorrow," he said silently.

Hina shook her head as much as she could in his hands. "The only sorrow you give me is how your life turned out. If you could go through that, I will go through this," she said.

Itachi frowned. "But I don't want you to," he said.

"I know. But I don't care," Hina said, "I love you, 'Tachi. And there's no way I'll leave you unless you want me to."

"I-"

"And I'm not thinking about how you don't want me to do this for you. I'm thinking about what _you_ want," she interrupted.

Itachi clenched his teeth.

"I know you hate this world, 'Tachi. But this world is the only one. Let's make the best out of it, okay?" Hina asked.

Itachi smiled. "I really don't know how I managed without you," he said.

Hina smirked. "Me neither. I'm just sooo brilliant and cool, and you were, like, so sad you didn't tell me," she mocked.

Itachi rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. Hina locked her arms around his waist, and stretched. She softly placed her lips on his and he bent down so she didn't have to stand on her toes. Their lips moved together in a steady rhythm. Both had their eyes closed and just enjoyed the feeling of staying so close.

Hina was so happy when she was with him. They had always been like this. So close, yet so far away. This was who they were. Hina belonged to Itachi. Itachi belonged to Hina.

This was them.

* * *

**Okay, I liked this chapter. A bit more serious than the last one, though. Oh well. I hope you liked it, and if you did, review and make me happy, the way this story might make you happy! ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	26. XXVI

**YAY! New chappie!^^ And this actually continues some action! Or not… =.=**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe in any single way, **_**un**_**fortunately. Or maybe it's a bit fortunate, because if not, the story would've been mostly about Itachi… ^^**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko and Daisuke.**

**ENJOY!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 26: All or Nothing**

Ami, Hina and Chieko walked out of the cave as Deidara came running.

"AMI! You didn't tell me you'd be gone for a _week_!" he pouted.

Ami scratched the back of her head innocently. "Didn't I?" she asked.

Deidara narrowed his eyes. "Are you avoiding me?" he asked.

"Nope," Ami said and slung her arms around his neck and gave him a full blown kiss.

Hina and Chieko rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, break it up," Hina said eventually.

"Like you didn't say good bye to Itachi," Ami mocked.

"Well, sure. But not in _public_. Seriously. And in good time as well. We were supposed to go three minutes ago," Hina said annoyed.

"I still blame Sasori," Ami said.

"Yeah, me too. To think he'd be so stupid as to make pancakes before we, including Cozy, left. Of course she'd jump-"

"Don't even say it, Crazy!" Chieko warned.

"Oh, I was about to say _them_. You only let your perverted mind flip and go to _him_," Hina said, and Ami and Deidara chuckled.

Chieko sent them all death glares. "Well, it is partially Deidara's fault as well," she said matter-of-factly.

"Nope, because had you not jumped the pancakes, Deidara would've found out too late," Hina stated.

"Damn," Chieko muttered.

"But we could all be off ten minutes ago, had it not been for your rattling, Crazy," Ami said and waved to Deidara.

Hina sent her a glare before the three C's turned and started running towards the Country of Fire.

* * *

Later that day, the three C's had stopped to eat.

"Well, what's the deal with Sasori, Cozy?" Ami asked, and Chieko narrowed her eyes.

"Why?" she asked cautiously.

"Oh, no reason. He's a hard shell, that's all," Ami said.

"Riiight," Chieko said, not believing a word.

"But what's up with Crazy?" Ami then asked, looking at their friend who was sleeping tightly.

"She's sad, of course. She doesn't like the fact that Itachi had that kinda life. I don't think she knows how to deal with it yet," Chieko said.

"Even after one and a half year?" Ami asked.

"Even after one and a half year," Chieko confirmed.

"Poor girl," Ami said.

"Poor Itachi as well," Chieko added, and Ami nodded.

"They're the perfect couple," she said.

"Well, you and Deidara aren't that bad either, you know," Chieko said.

"True," Ami said with a small, soft smile, "BUT that brings me back to Sasori!"

Chieko looked annoyed, but Ami could clearly see she only looked annoyed to hide whatever feeling she really wanted to show. "There's nothing-"

"If you're gonna say there's nothing between you, you have a serious problem not only reading Sasori, but yourself as well," Ami interrupted with a smile, "Come on, Cozy. We're BFF's, right? You know you can trust me."

Chieko smiled. "Fine," she said, and Ami gave a big smile. Chieko continued: "Well, he is real nice, kind and funny even. It might be hard to believe, but when you and Deidara ran before us on all the missions in the beginning, he was really talkative. And it's so easy to talk to him. He just sees through everything. He's amazing."

Ami noticed the look in Chieko's eyes as she spoke. They were filled with happiness and she was smiling softly. "You really like him, don't you?" she asked.

Chieko looked at Ami, and then started blushing. "Yes, I do," she said.

Ami resisted the urge to 'aw' and only smiled to her friend.

"Shall we wake Hina now?" Chieko asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Ami said and started making holes in the ground that Hina would fall into, but before she fell, water flushed the hole and held her up.

"Don't even think about it," Hina said and opened her eyes.

"GAH! You're awake? Since when?" Ami asked, rattled.

"Since I tried to fall asleep. Didn't manage, though. However, it was a lovely conversation to overhear," Hina said and winked at Chieko, who narrowed her eyes.

Ami laughed. "You," she said.

"Me," Hina agreed.

"Let's go guys!" Ami exclaimed and jumped onto a branch.

The two others followed suit.

* * *

Two days later, the three girls reached the Country of Fire, and Chieko was searching for the insider. She could feel his chakra, but she wasn't sure just where he was. She closed her eyes to focus, and then took the road to the left, swiftly followed by Ami and Hina.

"He's at the temple. He knows we're coming," Chieko said after another ten minutes.

"Is there someone with him?" Ami asked.

"No, he's alone," Chieko answered.

"How massive chakra does he have?" Hina asked.

"Not strong enough to defeat either of you," Chieko said with a smile.

"Let's go, then," Ami said and they nodded and ran to the temple in top speed.

They reached it within two minutes. The three walked into the temple with careful steps.

"Hello," a man's voice said behind them, and they all turned.

"Hey," Ami said, flashing a smile.

"I wasn't expecting girls," he said.

They all quirked an eyebrow.

"You got a problem with that?" Hina asked with a warning clear in her voice.

The man quickly shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I only meant that I didn't even know the Akatsuki had girls. I mean-"

"Relax. Not many does. They're to ignorant to see what's right in front of them," Chieko said, "Tell us your name."

"Daisuke. Kaisen Daisuke," he said immediately.

"Daisuke-san, what did you want to tell us?" Chieko asked in a kind voice.

"I know for a fact that you're soon gonna start looking for the jinchuuriki's, so I wanted to tell you that Uzumaki Naruto is gone from his village to become stronger. He's with Jiraiya the sennin. He is probably the most difficult you have to catch. And it's even harder now.

"Sabaku no Gaara is also rather hard to catch at the moment. He is one of the most protected jinchuuriki's. One of the reasons for this is the fact that he's on the list of becoming the next Kazekage. I think the elders already have decided this. There's nothing to do about this, but when he becomes the Kazekage, it will probably be easier to get to him, because, should you fight him, he'd be the one protecting his people. This is one of the duties of being the Kazekage, so you will probably reach him quicker when he is the Kazekage.

"The two-tailed monster cat is also much protected, and the best time to catch her is if she is sent out on a mission.

"The three-tailed giant turtle is loose. I still haven't figured out where, so I will have to come back to that. But when I do, I'll give you the information at once. But it does not have a host.

"The four-tailed monkey would be one of the easiest to catch, along with the five-tailed dolphin-horse.

"The six-tailed slug is extremely difficult to find. It seems the host doesn't stop moving. He's been everywhere, but I cannot locate him.

"The seven-tailed horned beetle is not too hard to catch. Her chakra isn't as big as the others.

"The eight-tailed giant ox is heavily protected by his brother who is the Raikage. Besides, he is the strongest with exception of the nine-tailed demon fox. The eight-tailed giant ox is merged together with the jinchuuriki's chakra. The bijuu obeys to the jinchuuriki's orders. I guess you could call it a strong bond," Daisuke said.

"Wow, you sure know your stuff," Ami said, surprised.

"Well, when you deal with the Akatsuki, that's how it's got to be, right?" Daisuke said with a smile, and the three girls nodded.

"Well, this is all good information. I'm glad you could give us all this," Hina said.

"You're welcome. And I'm glad I could oblige. And I hope the next time I give information to the Akatsuki, it's you girls," Daisuke said, and the girls snickered.

"So do we," Chieko said with a smile.

"Well, will you stay over the night?" he asked.

"No, we should get back as fast as we can. Thank you for telling," Chieko said, even though Ami and Hina wouldn't mind staying in a good, soft bed for a night.

Oh well. They left the house after giving him some money for the information. He seemed ecstatic about it as well. Maybe the girls gave him more than Kakuzu did. It surely wouldn't surprise them.

* * *

"Why didn't we stay over, Cozy?" Ami whined after a while of running.

"Because some chakra was closing in on us," Chieko said.

Hina and Ami both stopped dead.

"What?" Hina whispered.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ami asked.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea," Chieko said sarcastically.

"Fine, but how many were there?" Hina asked.

"It wasn't the number I was afraid of. It was the fact that Hatake Kakashi was one of them," Chieko said calmly.

Ami fell off the tree. Hina stood frozen with wide open eyes.

Ami jumped up again. "No way!" she shrieked.

"Shush!" Chieko hissed.

"He's onto us?" Hina asked, snapping out of her trance.

"Mhm, so we should get going," Chieko said.

"How far?" Ami asked.

"Thirty miles," Chieko said.

The three girls looked at each other.

"Let's go!" Ami said and they ran in top speed towards some water to try to hide their scent.

They knew it was working, because Chieko noticed that Kakashi fell further and further away. But then she felt it.

"Girls! He's covering up his chakra slowly to make me feel like he's falling behind!" Chieko exclaimed.

"Oh Kami!" Hina exclaimed.

Ami frowned. "Crazy, can't you use your wind? And maybe mix some water to make the scent disappear?" she asked.

Hina and Chieko looked shocked at Ami.

"Oh my JASHIN, Cookie! When did you get so smart?" Hina exclaimed and Ami snickered.

Then the wind hit the river below and grabbed the three girls and they flew faster than vision to the base. It was still two days in normal speed, meaning maybe one day in this speed, but Hina would eventually get weaker, and she wouldn't be able to run as fast as normal either. If this wouldn't work, Kakashi would get to her. It was all or nothing.

* * *

**Okay, so I hope you enjoyed! Now, how fast do you want me to update? Fast, faster or fastest? Maybe slow, slower or slowest! Tell me, and add something you want me to add! ^^**

**I have, btw, stopped allowing reviews from anonymous persons, because I'm afraid of spam. Yeah, I know; weak… ;) But I really don't wanna risk it! So… Sorry those who wanted to review nicely and not spam. I really am! I love reviews!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	27. XXVII

**Yo! New chapter's up! Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe. If I did, Danzo and Madara would just be normal inedible prunes.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko.**

**To my reviewers:**

_Chocoholic93_

_VampireGirl Shiori Uchiha_

_Cheetay_

**Thanks guys! I love you!**

**ENJOY!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 27: Akatsuki in battle!**

Six hours had passed, and the speed of the wind had sunk considerably. Ami and Chieko was aware of the tall it took on Hina's powers, and Chieko sometimes pushed some of her own chakra into Hina to save her some energy. But with or without the energy, the girls were only twice as fast as they would be on feet. They did have a headstart, and the scent didn't linger since they were in the air, above the trees. Maybe they did have a chance.

Seven hours later, the wind ceased.

"Damn," Hina muttered.

"It's okay. We're not far from the hideout," Chieko said.

"And they probably lost track of us," Ami added.

"That's not what I meant," Hina said and she slipped on the branch.

Chieko and Ami both grabbed her.

"Hey, relax," Ami said with a smile.

"Put me down," Hina said.

The two girls jumped with her down to the ground and sat her down.

"You have to run ahead. Get some help. One of us needs to stay behind to make sure they won't find the hideout. Now go," Hina said.

Chieko and Ami shook their heads.

"No way," Chieko said.

"Nah-ah," Ami said.

"Guys. You have to go. Even I can sense chakra now," Hina said with an annoyed face.

"Exactly," Ami said.

"Meaning the longer you stay here, the more probable it is that they get us all. Cozy, you're not stronger than Kakashi, and Cookie, you're not strong enough to take care of all of them," Hina said, "So go. You guys have a better chance to get there in time than I have. And Cookie is the fastest, and I'm not allowing you to stay behind, Cozy. Got it?" Hina said angrily.

The two girls nodded.

"We'll be back," Ami assured her and she took off.

"Kakashi is not one of them," Chieko said and Hina nodded. Then Chieko hurried after Ami.

Hina turned to the place the chakra was nearing. If it wasn't Kakashi, who was it then? And was it a bad thing that it wasn't him? Or maybe good? Then the chakra-source was standing in front of her and Hina's eyes widened in shock.

"Greetings, Takahashi-san," Danzo said, his eye staring at her with a sort of humor.

* * *

"GUYS! HELP!" Ami shrieked into the cave.

Her eyes were stained with tears, no matter how hard she tried to force them back. Deidara appeared at once quickly followed by Sasori, Itachi, Pein and Konan, and soon the entire Akatsuki.

"Is it Chieko?" Sasori asked impassively, even if his eyes betrayed his tone.

"No. It's… Hina," Ami said and Itachi visibly flinched.

He was out of the cave in the matter of seconds.

"ITACHI!" Pein bellowed, but Itachi didn't come back.

Chieko came running then, and Sasori dragged her into the cave. She pulled her hand out of his grip. "We need more! I'm not sure, but I think maybe Danzo was one of them!" she yelled.

Ami's eyes fixed on Chieko. "No way," she whispered.

Deidara was out of the cave along with Sasori and Konan. Pein looked pretty angry, but ran after as well, worried about his angel. Hidan and Kakuzu shared a glance before they too ran after.

Ami and Chieko were so tired, that they didn't know what to do. They both knew that Hina wouldn't want them to come, but being them, they did exactly that and ran after the rest of the organization, Zetsu even joining.

* * *

"Danzo," Hina snarled, "You ignorant little piece of-"

"I'm not sure I'd finish that, Takahashi-san," Danzo interrupted, "I might just place you as an S-ranked missing-nin."

Hina's throat made a sound, sounding a lot like a growl.

"I guess you're no use for us, either way, and by the looks of things, you're pretty weak. I might just kill you right here," Danzo said.

Hina frowned, ignoring her beating heart. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she shot.

Danzo tilted his head. "I don't know," he said and brought forth a kunai and a sound of steel hitting steel was heard.

Hina's eyes widened once again as she saw one of Pein's many bodies stand in front of her, blocking the kunai. Her heart made a low thud of relief and then arms locked around her and a familiar heat surrounded her body as Itachi carried her away.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his tone full of worry.

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired," Hina said with a small smile. "What about them?" she asked looking back.

"They have Pein. They'll be fine," Itachi said and kept running in the direction of the hideout.

"Where are Ami and Chieko?" Hina asked, leaning her head against Itachi's shoulder.

"In the hideout," Itachi said.

"DANZO!" a female voice shrieked.

"Well, maybe they're not," Itachi added.

Hina looked as far as she could over Itachi's shoulder, afraid that her friend might get hurt.

"You know Ami better than anyone of us does. So you know she's strong enough to take care of herself, even in a battle against Danzo. Danzo can't copy her, since she doesn't use jutsus. Don't forget that," Itachi said comfortingly.

Hina nodded. "You're right," she said.

Then she felt herself get pulled under by her lack of energy and the last thing she saw was Itachi's worried, angelic face.

* * *

Ami jumped forward and landed a punch on the person standing next to Danzo. Pein was very much busy with the idiot. Konan was engaged in a battle against two, and just when she landed the deadly hit on one of them, the other had made a handsign and was currently controlling a water-dragon. A bomb smashed the dragon into droplets and Deidara smirked to Konan who smiled back to him.

Sasori wasn't so busy it seemed, and only seemed to play some game. A puppetry game, of course. Suddenly the puppet bit of a person's head. That's when Ami realized how creepy he could be. She stood shocked for a moment, but that moment was ruined as a kunai slit her skin. Ami turned and attacked the guy with flames. Danzo had noticed that she didn't use handsigns, making him look at her in wonder, the only second Pein needed.

"Almighty push!" Pein bellowed and Danzo was pushed back in top speed.

Pein started to follow, but when he reached the destination, Danzo was gone. When Pein came back, no one was fighting anymore.

"I guess they decided to retreat," Deidara said.

"Gee, what gave _that_ away?" Ami asked with a frown.

Deidara snickered and they all left to the hideout after Zetsu gave them the clear.

* * *

When Hina came to her senses again, all she saw was blurry people. She could make out Ami and Chieko, but the others were standing too far away.

"Hey," Chieko said softly.

"Yo," Hina said, and smirked at the sweat-drops.

"Same old, same old," Ami muttered.

"Yeah, look who's talking," Hina said with a quirked eyebrow.

"What did I do now?" Ami asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Eh… DANZO!" Hina shrieked and everyone jumped around, something she could see even though it was blurry. "I was mimicking Cookie, guys," Hina said with a roll of her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Chieko then asked.

Hina looked around and jumped out of bed. "Perfectly healthy," she said as the others tried to guide her back to bed. "I'm fine. Seriously. I just needed to sleep," she insisted.

"How's your eyesight?" Chieko then asked and Hina blinked.

"Okay, why?" she asked.

"You might've not noticed, but Danzo cut down on your eye, and you had a pretty big wound. We healed it up, but I'm not sure you'll ever be able to see properly with that eye," Chieko said.

* * *

_Danzo looked at her with some sorta humor. _

"_Danzo," Hina spat. _

"_Now, now. Where's the honorifics?" Danzo asked. _

"_Up your ass?" Hina suggested. _

"_You always had a foul mouth, Takahashi-san. Maybe you should learn not to use it. Or maybe I should give you a reason for why you shouldn't," Danzo said with a small smile. _

_Hina quirked an eyebrow. "And what could you possibly do?" she asked. _

"_More than you think. And you look pretty down. Are you tired of all the running? Or should I say, flying?" _

_Hina looked shocked up at him. "How did-" _

"_You lived in Konoha long enough for me to find out how to track you after that signature," Danzo said, the smile now gone. _

"_Hn," Hina said. _

"_Ah, I see you're taking after the Uchihas? Not a good trait," Danzo said. _

"_I'm not the one with Sharingans all over my body," Hina stated. _

_Danzo drew a kunai and slashed it over Hina's face. She didn't even feel the cut. She was too tired to try. But she felt something warm tickling down her face._

_

* * *

_

Hina touched her eyes and couldn't feel any sign of wounds, but shrugged it off. It was probably just well healed.

"It doesn't matter," she eventually said, "It's just one eye."

She locked eyes with Itachi, and she saw that he realized what she meant.

* * *

**Okay, so next chapter will be another time-skip till the shippuuden time. Have you any ideas for what the story should continue with? I might jump a bit fast at one point, and if that point comes, tell me, and I'll add a fill-in or something ^^**

**So please review! I love you all!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	28. XXVIII

**I KNOW! I'M BACK! AND I PROMISE I WILL NEVER LEAVE THIS STORY TO ANOTHER BEFORE IT'S DONE! YOU HAVE MY WORD!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe, nor will I ever… BWÆÆÆÆÆ!**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko as well as everyone you've never read/seen in the manga/anime.**

**ENJOY THE FINALLY ARRIVED CHAPTER!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 28: Concerning Akatsuki**

One year later, the Akatsuki had set in motion. Sasori, Deidara and Chieko were out on the mission to capture the one-tailed, who now was the Kazekage. Ami was worrying her guts off, and Hina was annoyed that her friend got so worried that she didn't even think of new pranks. Then there was the fact that the Akatsuki had literally split up, staying in different bases. Hina and Ami were both happy that they were partners, so they were mostly always together.

Right now, the two girls were in the same hideout as Pein and Konan in the Hidden Village of Rain. They were waiting for the order from Pein, telling them that Deidara, Sasori and Chieko had captured the one tailed. Hina really couldn't hope for anything else, as she knew that Ami was extremely worried. She and Deidara had grown so close, and could almost always be seen together.

Hina's eye had also gotten better, but things were slightly foggy when she looked around with only that eye, the other closed. But she didn't mind. She could live like that just perfectly when she thought about how Itachi would be after a while.

His eyesight had gotten much worse, even though he never talked about it to anyone. He never told Hina either, but she had caught him squinting a number of times. He had just waved it away, in his Uchiha fashion, hn, and ignored her completely. He was very touchy when it came to his eyes.

But he was usually around Hina. More than usual the last two months. Of course she had thought it nice at first, that she got to see him (and Kisame) so much, but a growing fear had swollen up in her. He treated the days he spent with Hina like they were his last.

And the first time Hina had the thought, she knew it was correct. Itachi's life was closing to an end, and she just couldn't understand why that was. She didn't understand a damned shit. And it was driving her mad.

"OY! Hina!" yelled a voice from far away. It was Ami.

Hina jumped up from the couch she was sitting in. "What?" she yelled back, and Ami rounded the corner.

"They caught the one-tailed," she said with a smile.

Hina smiled too. "I'm glad they're safe," she said.

But then both smiles fell.

"Poor Gaara," they both said.

"Why did they have to find this kinda hobby?" Ami exploded.

"I don't know. And why the _hell_ did they put the tailed beasts inside of _humans_? Couldn't they just have sealed them away?" Hina yelled back.

"Girls," a ringing voice said, and they both looked up.

"Yes Pein?" they both asked with angelic voices.

* * *

"Girls," said the voice of Pein four days later.

"Oh, you're done extracting the beast now? Is Deidara, Chieko and Sasori safe?" they both asked.

"Yes. They're fine. Well, not Sasori. He's alive, but only just. Chieko managed to save him in some brilliant way of hers, but only got to do so in exchange of letting some information to the enemy," Pein said, and it was clear he wasn't happy about that.

The girls were of course still playing some Operation MatchMaker on Pein and Konan, but it was getting hard. The times were so serious now, and the closer they got to their goal, the bigger the possibility of dying. And therefore it left almost no time for the two girls to joke around. They didn't really see Chieko as often as they wished either, and being a spy often put her in more danger than the two girls, something they were very much aware of.

Then Ami and Hina sat down in the couch with thoughtful faces; the two girls still denied to be a part of the extracting, and Pein didn't say anything about it, even though he had asked them to. And yes, _asked_ them to. He was well aware of the link the two girls and Chieko represented to the entire organization. Should he kill them, they would all fall apart.

"What should we do now?" Ami asked with a sigh; she was much like Sasori with all the waiting and stuff.

"We could make more prank-planes?" Hina suggested and Ami smiled wickedly.

"On who?" she asked.

"I was thinking Kakuzu, Hidan and money," Hina said with an evil smile.

Ami nodded. "I like it," she said cruelly.

The two girls jumped up and ran into the office of Pein where the paperwork for the organization was, and the salary.

* * *

The two girls were currently sitting in the couch of one of the hideouts in the Hidden Village of Rock (they had to leave at once after the money-prank unless they didn't want to be the prey of a certain pierced monster) when a bang was heard.

They jumped up and ran towards what they thought was an intruder, but the battle instincts turned into happy smiles when they saw Chieko, and then turned into looks of horror as they saw the condition of Sasori, who was leaning towards Chieko and Deidara.

Ami ran over to Deidara who seemed to have lost both arms. She looked slightly horrified, but supported him into the living-room as Hina took over the blondes place and helped Chieko get him to lie down on a couch.

"We need a medic," Chieko said.

Hina and Ami both looked dumbly at her. Then they both hit her in the back of her head.

"You _are_ a medic!" they shrieked.

Chieko frowned. "I know. But I need someone with more skills than me," she said.

"Like who?" Ami asked.

"Kakuzu," Hina said and jumped up. "I'll be back as quick as I can. Most likely with both of them," she said and before the others could protest, she was out of the door.

Ami sighed and turned to Deidara. "How are you feeling?" she asked him with concerned eyes.

"I'm fine," Deidara said and leaned in to kiss her head.

"It's Sasori I'm worried about," he whispered to her, and Ami (even though she wanted to) didn't say anything about the fact that he was worried about the redhead.

* * *

**So, what'cha think? Was it good? Should I have added something? Anything you want me to add in the future chapters? Then it's too bad if you've already reviewed on my AN. Because if so, you won't be able to review to chapter 28 at all. And that's really too bad for me too… Oh well. I'll forgive you! ;)**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	29. XXIX

**New chappie! Hope you like it! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe or the characters.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko and whatever characters you've never heard of before in the Anime/Manga/Games/whatever you can think of that has Naruto in it. ^^**

**ENJOY!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 29: Saving him**

Hina was running with the wind towards where Pein had sent Kakuzu and Hidan; The Country of Fire. She didn't like the fact that she was getting so close to the village she was born in, being a lot more careful after what happened last year with Kakashi hunting them and Danzo catching up to them. Her eye was, as mentioned, better, but her feelings of stress that day had been so huge, and she didn't feel like re-living them anytime soon.

Even though the thought of Sasori so hurt kinda stressed her. But she just didn't get why. Sasori was a puppet. He shouldn't be hurt unless it was a hit to the heart, and if it was, he'd be dead. Wouldn't he? Hina pushed herself harder at this thought of insecurity.

* * *

Not two hours later had Hina reached the Country of Fire. She had run through the Land of Sound, to reach the Valley of the End. Now she was there, standing on the statue of Uchiha Madara, searching for Kakuzu and Hidan. They shouldn't have gotten further, but it was possible that they had taken another way around to the Temple.

She sighed and sat down, trying to find them with her wind. She then opened her eyes wide when she felt a chakra hit her. She knew this chakra too well. She quickly concealed her own and jumped away, hiding behind the head of the Uchiha. She heard laughter and voices.

_Kotetsu and Izumo,_ Hina thought, _What're they doing here?_

Now she was hoping Kakuzu and Hidan had taken the other way, but her wind had found them. She tried to slow them down as much as she could with a strong wind. She was starting to freak.

"KOTETSU, IZUMO! What the hell do you think you're doing out here? You're the guardians of Konoha! Get back there immediately!" a female voice bellowed, and Hina closed her eyes as she recognized the chakra as Ino's.

"Ino-san, we're taking a-"

"No, you're not. Azuma wants to speak with you. He said something about a mission," Ino said harshly and the two boys looked at each other.

"Well then," Izumo said and the two of them left.

Ino stood still. She looked in the direction of the statue of the eldest Uchiha.

"Oh, Sasuke," she whispered, "Won't you come back? If not for me, then for Naruto… and Sakura."

She closed her eyes and shuffled her feet before she walked away. Hina looked after her with both sorrow and relief. Sorrow, because of Sasuke, relief, because not two minutes later, Kakuzu and Hidan showed up.

"Kakuzu," Hina said to him, and he looked at her, surprised to see her as well as Hidan.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I need you to come back to the hideout in the Land of Rock. So," Hina said, and before he could say anything, she had grabbed both Hidan and Kakuzu, and the wind carried them away, mixed in with the water.

"OY! WOMAN! Let us down now!" Kakuzu demanded.

"Sasori is dying, and we need you to fix him," Hina said calmly.

Hidan looked annoyed. "Why can't he just die? We'd be better off without him," he said annoyed.

"And with 'we' you mean you and Chieko, right? Forget it, Hidan. She doesn't love you. And neither do you. You only want her to be your prize, and Chieko would never give in to you. And you should know this. But I guess your brain is just too small to comprehend so," Hina said coldly.

Hidan looked murderous and seemed to be about to hit her, but Kakuzu grabbed his arm.

"It is not worth it," he said in his normal, cold murmur.

* * *

They reached the hideout in less than three hours. It took a bit longer back thinking about the fact that she was also carrying one idiot and one money-freak on her chakra. Chieko and Ami looked extremely relieved when the three people arrived. Hidan smirked at Chieko, who didn't even notice him, but dragged Kakuzu with her into the living-room.

"Kakuzu, you can help him, right?" she asked and looked so hopefully at him that he couldn't even say anything, but walked over to Sasori, who was still conscious.

"You really shouldn't display your weak spot so evidently," Kakuzu told the redhead who frowned at him.

"But the fact that you survived a wound to the heart, I have to say, is very good. At least you belong in the Akatsuki," Kakuzu said.

Sasori didn't answer to that, and his eyes locked with Chieko's. She smiled slightly to him, but he saw how worried she was. He didn't like that look. He didn't want to worry her. And he certainly didn't want to her eyes to be blood-shot like they were now. He tried to smile at her, but he felt it come out as a grimace when Kakuzu suddenly poked the hole in his heart. It literally burned him.

And he had given off important information to their enemy about Orochimaru, but the information coming from that source couldn't be directly linked to the Akatsuki, so nothing should go wrong there. Or maybe one thing could go wrong:

They could be found out. Sasori found himself not giving a damn what that girl used her time in, and he didn't care if Chiyo Baa-sama was lying dead somewhere. It wasn't his problem. He was only glad the mission of the one-tailed was over.

Then he started feeling real tired, and just before his eyes slipped shut, he felt something grasp his hand and a calming, but rasp:

"Don't worry. He's only falling asleep."

* * *

Chieko sat in the only chair in the room, waiting for Sasori to wake up there he lay in the couch. She couldn't help but worry even though Kakuzu had told her that he was gonna be fine. Hina had taken Hidan and Kakuzu back to where they were, and Ami was in the kitchen with Deidara.

Chieko looked at Sasori. His chest was rising up and down so slowly. And nothing in the world made Chieko so happy as to know that the one part Sasori kept of himself, with exception of his brain, was his heart.

The only thing she'd ever need to hear was his heartbeat. She wouldn't need anything else. She didn't care. And then she blushed furiously. She had just imagined that Sasori was hers to take. She closed her eyes.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid! _

She then looked at him again. What if he was hers? Chieko smiled absentmindedly. And she rose. She couldn't help it, but she walked over to the couch and sat down on the floor. She then lifted her hand and placed it on Sasori's. She really liked him. There was no question in mind that she had fallen for him.

But she just couldn't see it all happening. That he would be happy around her and care for her the same way she did for him. That he would laugh and smile.

But then she remembered Itachi. And the fact that he smiles when he's around Hina makes it so much more believable that Sasori could smile when he was around his loved one.

Then the only thing was; Sasori's loved one wasn't Chieko. But then a mumbling-sound reached Chieko's ears and she looked up at Sasori (she hadn't noticed that she had looked away from him; he had been so clear in her mind), and he was looking back at her.

Chieko started grinning and said: "Back from the dead, ey?"

Sasori smiled at her.

Chieko blinked, but made no biggie out of it like Hina or Ami would.

"How are you feeling?" she then asked the redhead.

"I'm fine now," Sasori said, but it seemed like he was hinting to something.

"Do you want something?" Chieko asked him and he shook his head.

"You sure?" Chieko asked and contemplated on leaving to get a glass of water.

"Yes. Just… stay here," Sasori said and closed his eyes so he didn't have to watch her astounded look as she let the words sink in.

And they did. And Chieko then became aware of her still holding his hand. She then smiled, while blushing slightly.

"I'll stay," she said warmly and just leaned back against the couch.

Sasori didn't open his eyes, but another smile slightly graced his lips.

* * *

**So, what do you think? Now there's no excuse for adding a review, since this is a completely new chapter! And I hope you will review, cause it really makes my day. :) And the next chapter can be added a bit quicker too! And maybe not? Up to you to decide**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	30. XXX

**I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT HAVING UPLOADED IN TWO FRAKING WEEKS! Sorry people! And I'm double time sorry for the fact that this chapter is so short! Please forgive me! I kinda had a writers block, but only on this story, because I've written a great deal of the end and I had to find a way to connect it with the rest of the story. Next chapter will also just be kinda short, because the chapter after that already has a beginning. That was complicated… Anyways! Please enjoy what little I have!**

**Thanks to my reviewers:**

_Chocoholic93_

_Cheetay_

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe or any of its characters.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko, though! :D**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

**Chapter 30: The feeling**

When Hina got back after delivering Hidan and Kakuzu back to the Country of Fire, she smiled as she saw a blue man walk into the hideout. She only thought: _Guess who!_ She ran and jumped over the 195 cm tall man. The latter had his hand on Samehada in less than a second, and Hina laughed.

"Got yah!" she said.

Kisame growled. "Lu, that's just freaking annoying! Oh, and Itachi walked into the lounge," he then said with a suggestive smile.

Hina rolled her eyes and laughed slightly. "Yeah, yeah," she said.

She turned and walked into the hideout towards what Kisame had baptized a 'lounge'. However, when Hina was walking towards the room, a growing fear rose in her gut. She knew what she would feel when she entered the room, and it wasn't a happy feeling. It was a feeling of losing the one she loved. It was something she could not stand. It was a suffocating feeling. Hina then saw the beautiful man stand with his back to her. She walked up behind him and laid her arms around his waist. He turned slowly and halfway smiled down at her.

"How was the mission?" Hina asked.

"It went smoothly," he said in his normal, soft voice.

But even his voice stung Hina. She felt like she was being suffocated.

"What is it?" Itachi asked her, his voice slightly concerned.

Hina smiled up at him. "Nothing. Just a headache," she said, waving it away.

Itachi laid his hand on her forehead; he wasn't one to take any chances. He slipped his hand off her face, and seemed pleased with the temperature.

"Don't catch a cold," he said to Hina, who smiled at him.

She hugged him once again, leaning her head to his beating heart. She hated the feeling in her. She hated the fact that when she lay so close to his heart she felt like the feeling swallowed her whole, as she felt like the beating would stop one day not to far away. Itachi didn't seem to understand why she was holding him so tightly in the 'lounge'. But the more Hina thought about it, the more her heart ached. Something would happen to his heart, and it would also inflict hers.

She just couldn't understand who was strong enough to hurt Itachi, let alone kill him. And what person wanted him dead within the Akatsuki? No one. And no one else was strong enough to kill him. That was a fact. But Hina didn't want to think anymore about that, and tried the best she could to keep him as close as she could for the longest amount of time, and then hold him back from any bad fights. She smiled at the stupidity of her own plan. Then she sighed.

"Are you going out on a mission in not too long?" Hina then asked, looking up at him.

"No. Not in a while. Kisame is not too happy about that, though," Itachi said calmly.

Hina laughed a small laugh at that.

"You're not all right, are you? What's wrong?" his concerned voice asked.

Hina sighed. She decided to let him in on something true, but not that would link him.

"I just feel like something is going to happen. Something _bad_," Hina said and looked up at him.

Itachi wasn't looking at her. He seemed to be thinking about something.

"Are you listening?" Hina asked slowly.

"Yes, I'm thinking," he said.

Hina made an 'o' expression and stayed silent, watching his perfect face thinking. How he could look so perfect, serious and caring at one time was beyond Hina, and she always found it amusing and calming to see him like that.

Itachi then looked down at her. "Maybe your gut is wrong," he said slightly humoristic.

But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't lie to Hina. But for once, she pretended to believe him. So she nodded.

"Yeah. It wouldn't be the first time my gut has failed me. I didn't feel anything when you-" Hina silenced herself quickly.

"It's okay. I know what I did. It was my choice. It's my pain. Don't bring it onto you," Itachi said.

Hina snorted. "You're so much more than just my boyfriend 'Tachi. Any burden of yours is mine," she said annoyed.

She was annoyed because Itachi never really seemed to realize just how much she loved him. He was her whole world. Which was why she was so aware that something was wrong. But they didn't talk more about the subject for the rest of the day.

* * *

**And I'm very much aware that the chapter was just **_**too**_** short. But please forgive me. I'll try to have the next up tomorrow! I really will! I love you guys, and you know it! So, please review, even though it's such a short chapter!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	31. XXXI

**So, this chapter got a tad longer than I expected; YAY ME! **

**Anyways, thanks to the reviewers!:**

_Chocoholic93_

_Cheetay_

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe, nor will I ever.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 31: I love you**

One day, when Hina and Kisame were sparring, Ami came running towards them.

"Hidan and Kakuzu! They both failed! They're dead!" she screamed from a distance.

Hina got a pained look on her face; she never really tried to talk to the pair, but they had been real great in their own bizarre way. Hidan was like the idiot who just made their day by cursing like hell, whilst Kakuzu was always cranky.

"I thought Hidan was immortal," Kisame said behind Hina.

"Yeah, Pein says he's not dead, but there is no way for us to find him," Ami said.

But something seemed to be bothering Ami.

Hina frowned. "What are you not telling me?" she asked.

"Hidan. He killed Asuma," Ami said lowly.

The expression on Hina's already pained face turned into true agony and her eyes started filling themselves with water.

"Dammit," she said and whipped the tears away.

She hated how she never managed to keep her tears away when it came to death, even if it was an acquaintance who probably didn't want anything to do with her. Chieko wasn't so good at it either, but Ami was pretty good at holding back her tears. But Asuma? Why was it that so many of the caring and loving people had to die?

Sure, the Akatsuki was fighting for a better tomorrow, but no one really seemed to care. If you didn't count Pein, Konan and Itachi, no one even seemed to care about the world. Deidara didn't care. Sasori didn't care. And nor did Kisame.

He cared about certain people, but nothing else. Well… Maybe his sharks. But Kisame cared about Hina, and she knew this, because at that exact moment, he put his hands down on her shoulders and held them somewhat tighter.

"It's okay, Lu. You just care too much, that's all," he said, and Hina frowned.

Did he really know what she had been thinking? And since when was it possible to care too _much_? Wasn't it just possible to care too _little_? That was what Hiruzen had told her and Ami.

Hina shook her head. "I'm fine. I just need some water," she said and walked towards the cave.

But it was a foul excuse of wanting to be alone; she and Kisame only fought alongside a river.

* * *

Chieko was sitting in the kitchen, her eyes bloodshot. Asuma had been so kind to her. He had been the only one looking after her when she came to the village, if you didn't count Ami and Hina. And when it came to looking after people, you didn't count them.

Sasori walked into the room, and Chieko didn't even try to hide her sorrow. But Sasori didn't seem pleased to see her crying. He seemed rather surprised. But not in the; 'Oh! You're crying!'-way. He actually seemed slightly angry. Chieko frowned.

"What? You don't want me to cry over a lost friend? _Fine_," Chieko hissed and rose on the last word and was about to storm out of the kitchen when Sasori grabbed her hand.

"That's not what I said," he said.

"But you were thinking it," Chieko said.

Sasori went silent. Chieko tried to get her hand out of his grip, but he just wouldn't cave in, even though he didn't even look at her.

"I just don't think you should shed tears for _him_," Sasori said with a pressure on 'him'.

Chieko frowned. "Are you talking about Hidan?" she asked.

Sasori looked at her, and she was surprised to see something resembling hurt in his eyes.

"You think I'm sorry because Hidan is lying under the ground somewhere, not dying?" Chieko asked, and her eyes showed off glowing anger.

Sasori frowned. "Yes," he said.

"I couldn't be _happier_ that Hidan is lying where he is, okay? I'm not crying because of him! I'm crying because I lost a very good friend called Sarutobi Asuma! You got a problem with that as well, or will you let me go now?" Chieko shrieked into Sasori's face, who let go of her arm, and Chieko was free to storm out of the kitchen, something she did.

Sasori looked after her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry," he muttered under his breath and then walked out of the kitchen in the other direction.

* * *

Hina found Itachi sitting in the lounge. She sat down beside him, and he noticed how shaken up she seemed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No," Hina said, and Itachi laid his arms around her.

"Is it Asuma?" he asked and Hina nodded and then shook her head.

"Not completely?" Itachi asked.

"Not completely," Hina confirmed.

"What else is there?" Itachi asked.

"My feeling," Hina said.

"Your gutfeeling?" Itachi asked.

"Yes," Hina said silently.

"What about it?" Itachi asked.

"Something is going to happen to you," Hina said, "Something bad."

Itachi looked down at her where she was lying in his arms. He didn't seem surprised.

"You know?" Hina asked.

"I have the same feeling as you, yes," Itachi said slowly.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Hina asked, slightly confused.

Itachi looked up. And the guilt on his face told Hina everything she had to know. He was aware that he was going to die. And he wasn't going to do anything about it. The person wasn't stronger than Itachi at all. His opponent would be weaker. And Itachi would let the man kill him.

Hina gasped and jumped up. Itachi sat straighter up. He knew she had realized. And Hina was stumbling backwards. She looked so weak. Itachi rose, walked over to her and closed his arms around her. He was surprised to feel her shaking.

"Sasuke," Hina managed to mutter.

Itachi sighed. How could he explain this to her? He knew he had to tell her sometime, but so soon? Now he had no other choice but to find Naruto as soon as possible, and then meet up with Sasuke. In other words, he had to plant the fake him to anger his little brother once again. How it hurt Itachi to do so, but he could not live knowing what could happen to Sasuke.

Itachi had to die before he became rendered and useless and give Sasuke any powers he could just to make sure he'd survive in this world. He could not let Sasuke die. Not even after all he had done. He could not kill Sasuke. But would Hina understand? With all the shaking and how he felt his neck become a little wet, he knew; No. She wouldn't understand. Not because she couldn't, but because she didn't want to.

"I have to-"

"You've suffered enough! You don't have to do _anything_!" Hina shrieked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.

"Sasuke's in danger, Hina," Itachi said calmly.

Hina looked incredulously at him. "You're going to _die_! Who's in danger, you say?" she yelled.

Itachi grabbed Hina's arms firmly, making her stop talking.

"This has been my resolve ever since I killed my clan. Your words cannot stop me this time, Hina," Itachi said firmly.

Hina seemed to slump. Itachi took a better grip on her, and kept her on her feet. Then a sound escaped her mouth. A sound so gruesome which burned his heart, however silent it was. Because it was. It was extremely low, but it was there. Itachi grabbed Hina around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"I need you to understand, Hina. This is going to happen," Itachi said.

Hina was shaking uncontrollably. "I- I… know," she managed.

Itachi placed his lips on the top of her head, smelling the scent coming from her hair.

"I love you," Itachi said silently into her ear.

Hina laid her arms around his neck and allowed him to carry her away after muttering:

"I love you too."

* * *

**So, what do you think? Was Itachi realistic? I tried to keep him calm through the entire conversation, but I'm not sure that was obvious through the text. So, please tell me if you notice something I should change! And did you like the Sasori x Chieko thing? Seriously! You have to tell me that, because I'm very insecure about that pairing. Thanks for reading! And please review!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	32. XXXII

**Oh lord, is it long since I've updated or what? I'm so sorry, guys. But seriously, school and theatre has taken all my time the last two weeks. I'm sorry! I really am, but here is an extra long chapter! And it will be easier to upload next time, because I've come to the part that I've already written!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe or any of its characters. Nor do I own the song: 'Chasing Cars' by Snow Patrol. It belongs to the rightful owner. Whether it is the band or another company, I do not know. Sry ;)**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko.**

**Thank you to my lovely, faithful reviewer:**

_Cheetay_

**ENJOY!**

* * *

**Chapter 32: One of the last moments together**

Hina was staying in her room all of the next day, but Ami, Chieko and Konan hung with her there. They were barely talking, though. The girls took turns in watching her, and at the moment, Ami was sitting there, watching Hina sitting in the bed, leaning against the wall holding her arms around her knees looking out of the window.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Ami asked her best friend.

Hina didn't even react to the noise. Ami rose from the chair she was sitting at by the window and walked over to Hina, sitting down on the edge of her bed, looking down at her best friend, wanting to give her a hug, but knowing it wouldn't improve her mood.

"Please, Hina. I need to know what's bothering you," she said.

Hina looked up at her, and Ami was surprised at how lifeless her eyes were.

"It's something with Itachi, I've understood as much, but what?" Ami asked, harder this time, almost demanding an answer.

Hina still didn't say anything, but made a grumbling sound. "Stop asking me questions you know I won't answer!" she exploded.

Ami sighed. "Fine. Then take care of yourself," she said and walked out of the room in anger.

Hina sighed and looked out of the window. How could this happen? Why did Itachi want to die like a culprit? Hina just couldn't see that. She wanted to understand him, hoping it would give her some peace of mind, but she just couldn't manage that. It was completely impossible to her to pretend like it was okay. It really wasn't. It was anything but okay. Hina couldn't imagine a world that didn't contain Itachi, and she felt like the day was only coming closer and closer. And she was right.

Two days later, Itachi had left on a mission. But when Hina asked Konan about it, she knew at once that it wasn't a mission Pein knew all that much about. And Hina knew that it was about the death of her beloved. She feared she would never see him again. She felt sick and nauseas all the time and only wanted Itachi to come back home, so she spent most of her one day outside to watch out if Itachi would come to her. Two days after he left, he still hadn't returned, and Hina was getting extremely anxious.

But then she felt the oh so familiar chakra in the air. She turned immediately towards her left and heard the footsteps of her loved one. Itachi walked into sight and looked slightly sicker than he ever had been. He saw her and smiled slightly as she ran towards him, but she stopped and gave him a weak hug. She didn't want to exhaust him more than he looked.

But Itachi laid his head in the crook of her neck and inhaled every piece of her scent he possibly could, and latched his arms tightly around her, like he was afraid of losing her. Or in this case, afraid of leaving her alone. Itachi couldn't think of dying away from the girl he was currently holding so tight like his life depended on it, but his brother would always be his top priority.

This was one of the things Hina really understood; his priority. But as Hina had come to realize in the past few days, Itachi's death was an unavoidable thing. She knew fairly well that he would not cave in. He wasn't the person to surrender unless it was by his own means. Like dying by the hands of his little brother. But then something happened. Something that made Hina's blood freeze in her veins. She couldn't understand it. But a shock was clear in her mind.

Itachi was breaking down. The man she loved, was breaking down. He was officially losing his mask. Hina felt her heart break into a thousand pieces by the shaking man in her arms. She felt herself die in front of him. She felt like she was dead. Tears welled up in her own eyes, and they both slowly fell to their knees, crying in each other's arms, soundlessly.

Hina kissed Itachi on the side of his head, keeping him as close as she could while breathing ragged breaths. She parte slightly from him, with small objects coming from Itachi. She forced him to look at her. He lifted his head slightly and his eyes, his red Sharingan eyes, were also red where they were supposed to be white. Hina smiled sadly at him and tried to dry his face, but new tears filled his stained eyes.

Hina just kept her hands on his face while leaning against him, making him fall down on the ground. She herself was still crying, with a shake that was too painful for Itachi to watch, but he could not take his eyes off of her. This was one of the last times he'd be around her. When all this was realized, and really realized, by Itachi, he felt like crumbling and staying there for all eternity. He grabbed her and pulled her as close as he could muster.

"I love you," he whispered with a hitch.

Hina laid her head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat so close and alive.

"And I love you," she said, "Always have and always will."

Itachi kissed the top of her head, and while they calmed down, they just lay there, looking up at the stars which reminded Hina of a heartbreaking song she had sung herself on the bar once:

_If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me  
And just forget the world?  
Forget what we're told  
Before we get too old  
Show me a Garden  
That's bursting into life  
All that I am  
All that I ever was  
Is here in your perfect eyes  
They're all I can see  
I don't know where  
Confused about how as well  
Just know that these things  
Will never change for us at all  
If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me  
And just forget the world?_

Two hearts beating in such symphony was something not many got to experience, but Hina and Itachi were two of the lucky ones. And they lay there together for a long, long time, before they were both extremely calm and their eyes the normal color. Itachi then lifted Hina up into his arms, and the two of them left to Hina's room. When they entered, however, Hina looked up into Itachi's face.

"I could never love a man as much as I love you," she said calmly.

Itachi smiled. "There will come another," he said.

"No. There won't. And not because I don't believe that it is possible, but because I won't let there. This will change me as a person, 'Tachi. That's just the way it'll always be. I would never accept a man into my life again. Because none of them would ever be enough for me to love. Not after you," Hina said calmly.

Itachi frowned. "Why?" he asked.

"The fourth Hokage died to protect his village, just like you killed your clan to protect the same village," Hina said.

Itachi didn't really understand what she was getting at.

"Well, the fourth was a great man, but this everyone knows. He lost his wife during this attack as well, and his son became the next Jinchuuriki. This must've been a heavy burden. The fourth was a hero. But you, 'Tachi, you sacrificed your living life by killing your whole family, and throwing away every feeling you ever had for them to protect your village and the greater good. By doing what was right, not what was easy. You chose the lesser of two evils. And you lived like a criminal. A shinobi rogue. Someone everyone wants to kill, as well as your own little brother. You live with this every single moment of every single day, just to make sure that no one would rebel against the higher authorities in Konohagakure. You live only for your little brother so he can kill you and become so much stronger," Hina told him.

"What are you saying?" Itachi asked, still confused.

"That the fourth was a hero. But you, 'Tachi, if people knew what had happened, they would not think of you as a hero," Hina said.

Itachi frowned. He knew this. He was still wondering if the right was to kill his family. That wasn't the human way to go around things. He was trash.

"You would be a God, Itachi," Hina finished.

Itachi's head snapped to her eyes. Had he just heard correctly?

"No human would go that way around things," Hina said, voicing Itachi's thoughts, "Only a God would chose the right thing then and there and be able to live with it to make sure your brother had a stronger life."

Itachi shook his head, and looked down at Hina's teary eyes. "I am no God," he said.

Hina smiled. "Of course you're not. No one knows your truth but a handful of people," she said, "And to me, you're a God. My God. Someone I would never lose, even in death."

Itachi knew that when Hina had that very special tone, there was nothing he could do to make her change her mind.

"I love you," she said, but still looked very said.

Itachi looked over her head and out of the window. If he was a God in her eyes, it was not something he'd dream of protesting about. He loved her. More than he could ever explain to her. He'd said the three words too much, but not enough. They had simply not the strong meaning that he wanted to express. They were too defiant.

* * *

**So, what do you think? I was very nervous about this chapter and I'm really sorry if you thought it was slightly too OOC of Itachi to have a breakdown, but I felt like it was slightly needed so he wouldn't be so cold. And I tried to not describe it too much, but still make it present. I hope you liked it, though. So, please review and yell at me for being so late on the update, and then tell me what you liked and didn't like in the chapter, ey? ;)**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	33. XXXIII

**Heyja! I'm back with a new chapter after a very hectic week! So, do enjoy it!**

**Thanks to:**

_Cheetay_

_Chocoholic93_

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe, nor will I ever. Unfortunately this means I don't own Itachi.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko and whomever you see that you've never heard of or seen before.**

**And a fair warning, this chapter contains a lemon. I'm gonna frame it like I normally do, so you can skip it if you want to ^^**

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 33: The Last Touch**

Itachi looked down at Hina. Her eyes were still bloodshot. "I wish you wouldn't do this," she whispered.

"I have no choice, Hina. You know this," Itachi said.

"You always have a choice. But, yes, I know," Hina said with a small voice and looked down.

Itachi placed a finger under her chin and lifted her head up. His eyes were glistening with love as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry Hina, but my death is inevitable anyways. The disease is there and will eventually kill me, treatment or no treatment," Itachi said while twirling a strand of her hair around his index-finger. "Let's just share this one moment with no sorrow?" he asked.

Hina smiled, but her lips quivered. How could he ask such a thing of her? And why had it come to this? Why did this have to happen?

"I love you, Hina," he said solemnly, "I always have and I always will."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

He then bent down and kissed her lips lightly. She responded at once, and the kiss tasted a bit salty because of her tears, but his soft lips were the same. The feeling of his tongue couldn't feel more like heaven.

He placed his hands on the small of her back, and she rested hers on the back of his neck. The kiss grew more and more passionate, and their tongues danced together, like the perfect dance-couple. He pressed her body closer to his, and caressed her back.

Her shaky fingers dragged out his pony-tail, and twined her fingers into the long raven hair. Itachi pushed her to the wall and she wrapped her legs around his hips. Her tears had stopped; she was too lost in the moment.

Itachi trail-kissed her down her neck and sucked on the collarbone, drawing out a moan, and then he bit the same spot playfully. Hina gasped and her feet pressed harder around Itachi, who returned his attention to her lips again, their tongues moving against each other.

Hina pushed her hands under the fabric of his shirt, caressing his back. He laid his hands under her hips, holding her up and then placing her gently on his bed, straddling her. She pushed her hands to the front and pulled at the shirt, and soon it was lying on the floor. Hina crossed her fingers over his nipple, and he groaned into her mouth, their lips glued together for the moment.

Itachi unbuttoned the shirt Hina was wearing, putting his arm under the fabric, lifting her a bit to get it off, not breaking the contact of lips. Hina slipped her hand from his chest and down his stomach, her fingers slowly rubbing the fabric over his growing erection. She smiled against his lips as he moaned silently. He lifted her a bit more, unhooking her bra, and dragging it off before putting his cold hands on her warm breasts.

Hina closed her eyes as he started kissing down her neck, and down to one of her nipples, licking it and sucking on it, and then bite a bit, making her gasp and moan endlessly. His free right hand slipped down to the start of her pants. He started pulling it down, she helping the best she could in her moment of pure pleasure.

When the pants were discarded, Itachi ran a finger over her panties, and she fisted her hand around his hair, breathing heavily. Itachi kissed up her neck again, and then gave her lips his full attention, while she dragged at his trousers, succeeding in pulling them off eventually.

They broke the kiss again, and looked intently at each other with lustful eyes, red into green. Then they kissed again, both discarding the last clothing on them. Itachi positioned himself as he trust hard and deep into Hina, who moaned a muffled moan into his mouth. He then sucked on a nipple again as he trust into her again.

"Nnh… Itachi," Hina moaned, the sound beyond perfection to Itachi's ears, making him want louder moans, while he himself moaned.

"Faster," Hina begged, digging her hands into his shoulders, following his movements, making it better for both of them.

Itachi obliged without hesitation, trusting harder and faster.

"Ah! Nnh!" Hina groaned, her moans coming louder and louder.

He kissed her again, their lips lingering, the trusts coming harder and making it hard for them to focus. Then Itachi hit a spot so deep that Hina actually screamed out in pleasure, muffled by Itachi's lips.

Then they were so close to the end, no one of them wanting it to come, but the end was soon there, and they both screamed each other's name. Itachi laid on top of Hina for a while, both catching their breath before he pulled out of her, lying down beside her.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

She snuggled up to his chest, and just breathed in and out, mesmerizing his scent. Knowing she would never feel this feeling again halfway killed what was left of her heart. She fell asleep with him beside her, wanting it to stay like that forever.

* * *

When she woke up, she frowned at the sun coming in through the window. She opened her eyes halfway, blocking the sun with her hand. And the familiar feeling where she knew something was wrong, where she knew what would happen attacked her just like it had when Sasuke disappeared all those years ago.

Hina turned to the side Itachi had been lying on with a very worried mind, terrified of what she might see. Then she noticed that Itachi was no longer there. She shot up, tears rising in her eyes. Where was he? He hadn't left, had he? No. Not again. Not without saying goodbye.

But then what was last night about. It was the perfect way to say goodbye. Hina started shivering, her heart tearing into pieces, her breath hitching in her throat. She pulled her legs up to her bare chest, laying her arms around them, closing her eyes.

"No. He hasn't left. He's still here. He has to be!" she told herself, not believing it.

She then opened her reddened eyes and pulled on her clothes, noticing the black Akatsuki-cloak hanging over the chair beside her bed. She walked over to it and pulled it up to her face, smelling the beautiful perfected sent of her one and only. She dashed out of the room, her eyes flowing with water. She ran into Kisame's room, finding it empty. She ran out again and collided with Pein. He looked down at her with hard eyes.

"Leader," she said in a very low tone.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice softer than his eyes.

"Itachi. He's gone. And so is Kisame," Hina said, her eyes watery.

Pein didn't do anything. She wasn't expecting him to. Then Konan walked around the corner, stopping when she saw them and then saw Hina cry.

"What's wrong?" she asked, walking slowly towards her.

She knew Hina hated hugs, and really didn't want to upset her even more than she obviously already was.

"Itachi and Kisame left," Pein said in a confused tone.

Konan frowned. "What do you mean _left_?" she asked.

"They took off. Itachi's gonna fight Sasuke," Hina said quietly.

Pein turned to her. "You're not afraid that Itachi will lose to him, are you? Itachi is plenty strong," he said.

Hina faked a smile. "You're right. I'm probably worrying for nothing. He's gonna be fine. I'll see you around, Leader-sama, Konan-san," she said and left.

Konan looked worriedly after her.

"What? She's okay," Pein said to her.

"No she isn't. She's terrified. Itachi's weak, Pein. The disease is taking its toll on him," Konan said, and Pein frowned.

"You're right," he said.

* * *

**So, did you like it? And just an excuse at once: I'm horrible at keeping Pein as he really is, especially in this story. In this story he needs to portrait feelings, so… Anyways! Please review!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	34. XXXIV

**New chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe or any of its characters.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko and whomever you've never seen or read about.**

**Thanks to:**

_Cheetay_

_Chocoholic93_

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 34: Gone**

Hina had run outside. She felt horrible. She felt alone. She felt scared. She felt broken. But on top of it all she felt nothing. The tears ran down her face. She put her feet into the water, trying to calm down, but the pain was too strong. She clutched her chest and just couldn't breathe properly. She heard footsteps behind her and Chieko and Ami sat down beside her. They sat in silence for a while, unable to do anything about Hina's breathing.

Chieko then broke the silence by saying: "Will you tell us?"

Ami shot Chieko a quick glance, and then looked at Hina.

"He's gonna sacrifice himself so that Sasuke will live," Hina said.

Ami's eyes opened wide, while Chieko gasped in surprise. "No way," she said.

"He'd die anyway, because of the Mangekyou," Hina said.

She kept her voice in a monotone, not able to do anything else without breaking down.

"Are you … well?" Ami asked.

"Gonna let it happen? Yeah," Hina said, looking at the water, "Itachi wanted it to happen." She then rose. "But I have to find Sasuke," she added.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Chieko asked.

"No. And if you do, I'll never be able to forgive you," Hina said, and the two girls nodded.

Then Hina walked into the forest before she started running. She ran as fast as she possibly could, but the pain kept its place, not leaving her once.

A loud explosion was heard, and Hina panicked. That had to be Deidara. No. She wouldn't let him die. She wouldn't let him cause pain to Ami. That would be more than she could ever handle. No. She had to get him away, but who was he fighting? Then she sensed a very familiar chakra, and her breath hitched in her throat. She shot past the trees, and soon grabbed Deidara where he was on his bird. He screamed bloody murder. Hina caught a glimpse of Sasuke looking confused before his eyes widened, but then she and Deidara were gone. They stopped on a branch.

"Don't you dare!" Hina snarled at him. "Don't you _dare_ hurt Ami!"

Deidara looked shocked at her. "Why are you-?"

"Doesn't matter!" Hina snapped, "Just go back to her immediately!"

Deidara frowned. "What if I don't want to?" he asked.

"I won't let you go," Hina said.

"I will go back to her. I just have to finish Uchiha off," Deidara said.

"You can't kill him, Deidara. You have to let him go," Hina pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes again.

Deidara looked shocked at her. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I say so, and because Ami loves you," she said with a hoarse voice.

Deidara smiled. "Since you say so," he said and then he left.

That was easy.

Hina then ran away to a more secure place, waiting. One hour. Two hours. Two and a half hours. Hina rose and started running again as she had waited in three hours. She didn't run fast. Her knees were too wobbly, and she couldn't focus enough on the wind to make her go faster. Her sight was blurry and she felt like she could die at any minute.

Then a familiar chakra reached her, and she slowed even more down, because that chakra was surrounded by three others as well, none of them capable to hurt the familiar one more than he could hurt them.

As Hina jumped a bit further, she found Kisame stand on the roof with a girl with red hair, two boys, one way taller than herself, even Kisame. And then the last boy was shark-like just like Kisame, except his skin was a normal color. His teeth were also shark-teeth like Kisame's. Kisame looked up and saw her run towards her, smiling gleefully to her. Hina landed beside him, and then he frowned.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Kisame asked.

Hina nodded and fell to the roof they were standing at. The three others looked curiously at her.

"You know Itachi is way stronger than his little brother," Kisame said, and Hina nodded.

"I do, but he's not gonna kill him, Kisame. He's gonna let Sasuke kill him," Hina said, not able to lie to Kisame.

Kisame frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Hina shook her head, and her shoulders started shaking, her hands covering her eyes.

"Hey, relax, Hina. Itachi's gonna be a-okay," Kisame said, and Hina shook her head feverishly.

A movement made Kisame snap his hand out and grab the smaller one of the guys.

"I don't think so," Kisame said with a harsh tone and the boy got thrown back to the rest of the gang.

"Who are they?" Hina asked, drying her tears.

"Team Hebi," Kisame said, "Sasuke's team."

Hina looked angrily at them. "You better take care of him," she snapped.

They looked curiously at her along with Kisame, then the redheaded girl said: "We are. We take better care of him than anyone ever did!"

Hina snorted. "Yeah, that's why he's fighting Itachi alone, right?" she asked.

"What do you even know about Sasuke?" the girl snapped.

"I raised him for six years," Hina said.

The three of them looked shocked at her.

"Yeah, didn't see that one coming," Hina said annoyed.

Kisame frowned again. "Neither did I," he said.

Hina rolled her eyes. "Whatever, fish-boy," she said, and Kisame chuckled.

Hina stretched out on the roof, feeling horrible, not letting it show. She felt tears press her eyes, and once again she did nothing to stop them. She didn't bother use strength on that when she'd need all the strength she had to just keep living.

"Why are you so sad?" Kisame asked, sitting down next to her with a worried look on his face.

"Because," Hina said, feeling worse than ever.

She hated not knowing what was going on. She had a flinch of hope in her body, and she knew she shouldn't have it, knowing that Itachi would never go back on what he had decided the moment he took the order from the elders in Konoha. She would be crushed to dust when she found out that he was dead. She knew that, but still the hope lived on. Maybe, just maybe would he tell Sasuke the truth?

'_No. He wouldn't do that. Stop thinking that he would!_'

Hina looked angrily up at the sky. Why? What on earth had she or Itachi done to deserve such a fate? Why the hell did this have to happen?

After a couple of hours, Zetsu appeared in front of them. Hina felt her heart flutter as she sprinted to her feet next to Kisame. What was the message? Had Itachi abandoned the Akatsuki to leave with Sasuke who now knew the truth? Or was Itachi … dead? Zetsu looked at Kisame and then at Hina. The black side said:

"**Uchiha Itachi is dead.**"

The words rung over and over in Hina's head, shocking her to oblivion. And then Hina's world crashed down. She could swear her heart stopped beating. Her knees gave in, and she fell to the roof again.

Her eyes filled with new tears, spluttering everywhere. She then felt like screaming, and she did. She screamed his name loudly and many times, her voice breaking. Kisame grabbed her and helped her up, holding her close, something she didn't care about now. She leaned into Kisame, beating his chest, screaming, howling.

Her world was gone. Her life was over. She had nothing to live for. He was dead. The only one she loved was dead. Nothing was left. No one was left. No one. She was alone. In the darkness. No light to shine for her.

She was gone.

* * *

**Well, how was that for a chapter? *sniff* Sorry! I kinda broke down writing this chapter. I hate the thought of Itachi (MY LOVEEEEEE! *sniff**sniff*) dying…! Anywhooo! I might disappoint some hearts out there, but I need to keep this as realistic as possible. And Itachi wouldn't not sacrifice himself just because of a girl. So, that's just the way it is. But please tell me what you think. Was the end a bit exaggerated, or didn't I describe it well enough? How about when Hina was partly waiting for Itachi to die? (oh, wow, that sounded horrible) And what about the conversation with Kisame. Did anything really blow it? Do tell!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaaras Devil**


	35. XXXV

**Ah, I thought I'd be kind today since I was born seventeen years ago. So, in about an hour or so, I will have posted another chapter! :D Oh, yeah! I'm nice! ;D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe, nor will I ever. :'(**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko, though :')**

**

* * *

Chapter 35: Good news never last forever**

How Hina had gotten back to the hideout, and how she had somehow not seen Sasuke was beyond her, but she didn't even try to figure out of it. She was empty. She didn't care. Three weeks had passed, and she had no idea of how she had survived. But as mentioned, she didn't care. She was empty. She hadn't touched the coat hanging on the chair since then. Since when he was still alive. She knew she was hurting the others by not talking to them, especially Ami, Chieko and Kisame.

It was hurting them, and that was hurting her, but she couldn't get herself to smile. She then felt real bad about everything and thought about Itachi. How he was dead. She suddenly felt nauseas and ran to the bathroom, throwing up. She brushed away the hair and threw up some more. She frowned. She couldn't think about a dead Itachi. She'd just throw up. She always did now.

The last week had been hard on her with massive stomachaches and nausea. She couldn't think straight. Konan had pleaded to Pein to keep her out of missions for a while, and he had eventually agreed. But Hina wished Konan hadn't. She wanted something else to think about. But the nausea would come in the way of a well played mission. To throw up every morning wasn't really that great.

Suddenly a twinge of hope hit her gut. She counted on her fingers, and looked scared and felt a feeling rise in her stomach. It felt like happiness. She ran out of the bathroom, into Chieko's room, where she and Ami, along with their boyfriends sat.

"Guys," Hina said, and they all looked shocked at her, and even more shocked when they saw her smile. "I think I'm pregnant!"

Ami's eyes went so wide it looked like they would pop out of their sockets.

Chieko smiled lovely at her. "That's great!" she exclaimed.

Ami sprung up and hugged Hina, not giving a shit about whether she wanted the hug or not.

* * *

_Three and a half month later:_

"Hina, I have news. They're not good," Chieko said.

Hina raised her eyebrows, motioning for her to go on.

"Sasuke plans to attack Konoha. He's on his way now," Chieko said.

Hina looked shocked at her friend.

"No," she said, "No! He can't do that! I have to stop him!" Hina jumped up and walked towards the door.

"We're coming with you this time, Hina," Ami said.

"I know, and fine, but keep to the back. I don't know how dark he is," Hina said, and the two girls nodded.

They then took off, not telling anyone.

After running for two hours, Chieko sensed Sasuke's chakra pretty good. He was about two hours away from them to the west. They sped up and hoped to reach him before he reached Konoha.

"Are we gaining on them?" Hina asked.

"There's more?" Ami asked.

"Three others. But you will still not come with me over to them, you hear me?" Hina asked harshly, and the two girls nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Ami said.

"And to answer your question; if we keep our pace, we'll reach him within an hour," Chieko said and Hina nodded.

They then ran in silence.

Hina could feel his chakra pretty clear now and she stopped. "Stay behind," she said to the girls who nodded and Hina raced forward.

"Sasuke, someone is closing in on us in a very fast speed," Karin said, and Sasuke stopped.

"Hn," he said and turned towards the place Karin was looking.

Then he felt the chakra too and his eyes widened.

"Don't attack," he said, and they looked curiously at him.

Then a girl with brown hair appeared. It was the same girl that had been crying when Sasuke fought Itachi.

Hina looked at Sasuke and walked straight over to him. Sasuke didn't do anything, just looked confused and a bit sad. She stopped in front of him, and then silence. Then she grabbed his shoulders and dragged him closer to her, locking her arms round him, hugging him closely. He stiffened, but relaxed and closed his arms around her waist, burying his face in the crook of her shoulder. The others frowned at the hug. Sasuke hugging? Not likely the most common thing you see in the world. '

"Don't do this, Sasuke," Hina whispered.

"I have to. They destroyed my clan. They deserve it," he mumbled.

"But what about Itachi?" Hina asked.

"I didn't know. I would never have- I didn't know," Sasuke pleaded.

"I know. He wanted you to kill him. But don't do this," Hina begged.

Sasuke broke from the hug and looked at her. "I have to. I have no choice," he said.

"You _always_ have a choice," Hina said, repeating what she had said to Itachi.

"Then I have chosen," Sasuke said.

"Please, Sasuke. Don't do this," Hina said, feeling helpless.

"I lost my brother, okay? I need to do this," he said harder now.

Hina frowned. "You _lost _your brother?" she repeated incredulously.

Sasuke frowned as well. "Yes," he said.

"Sasuke, you didn't _lose_ your brother. You _killed_ your brother," Hina snapped.

Why didn't he understand? Why couldn't he see the pain this was causing the world? Sasuke's eyes quivered.

"I know that," he said quietly, "But I have to do something about it. I want people to know what it's like to feel pain. To be hurt. They should know. Life isn't good, and I will not let you stop me."

Sasuke turned to walk away, but Hina stopped him.

"You're gonna destroy the village Itachi loved?" she asked with a quiet, hurt voice.

Sasuke turned to her. "Yes. I need to restore the respect for Itachi. This has to happen. They will suffer," he said.

Hina gritted her teeth. "You're gonna go against everything Itachi did? You're gonna do that? Then his-"

"Are you gonna say that then he would've died for nothing? He didn't! He protected me, like he wanted to! He didn't die in vain! And I'll make sure everybody remembers him as the savior of Konoha!" Sasuke growled.

Hina closed her eyes. "I wasn't gonna say that," she said.

"Then what were you gonna say?" Sasuke snapped.

"That Itachi didn't die in vain. He _lived_ in vain," Hina said.

Sasuke's eyes widened. He drew his hand out of her grasp and started walking away.

"All the _pain_ he felt! You're gonna let it go to waste?" Hina shrieked after him.

He didn't turn back.

"What about _his_ pain? Why do you only care about _your_ pain?" she yelled.

He still didn't turn. He gave a curt nod to the three watchers, and then they started running.

"SASUKE!" Hina screeched, eyes filling with tears, "SASUKE!"

Her voice broke and she fell to her knees. She couldn't stop him. She didn't dare hurt him. She just couldn't. Ami and Chieko were soon standing by her side, helping her up, she crying once again for not being able to stop another Uchiha.

* * *

_Three days later:_

Hina looked out the window. She had just heard the news. The good news. Konoha had defeated Sasuke. But that wasn't the real good news. The best news was that Sasuke was still alive. She smiled and rested her hands on her tummy. Things seemed to work out good. Ami had punched Deidara in the gut for trying to destroy Ami's bed so that she'd have to sleep in his bed, something she did anyways, she just liked to punch him.

Sasori and Chieko were almost always around each other, both protecting and caring. No one had ever seen Sasori so overprotective and caring, and they all thought it was pretty cute. With exception of Hidan. And half of Zetsu. And Kisame. And Deidara. And Madara. Basically with exception of all the guys, and only the girls plus the white side of Zetsu thought it cute.

But then one day, Konan became very quiet. She had been rather quiet ever since Pein died; who the three girls learned was really another guy by the name of Nagato. She had contemplated on leaving the Akatsuki, and the only thing keeping her there was Hina, Ami and Chieko. The three latter had decided to go talk to her then. They knocked on her door and walked in when they heard a 'yes'. Konan looked at them from the window she was sitting on.

"Konan, we want you to know that you don't need to stay behind for us," Chieko said.

Konan frowned. "I know. But you're my only friends at the time," she said.

"You could go back to your village and protect it," Ami insisted.

"We know you want to go there with Nagato and Yahiko's body. And we will not let you stay here if you don't want to," Hina said.

Konan smiled to them. "You're right," she said, "I need to go back."

The three smiled to her.

"I knew we were right!" Ami said triumphantly.

"Yeah, yeah," Hina said.

"Sure you did. Sure," Chieko said.

Ami narrowed her eyes and slapped the back of the two girls' head at the same time. Konan chuckled. She rose.

"Promise me you'll visit me," she said, and the three girls nodded.

She didn't leave her room, rather, she turned into paper with a last smile at the three girls and the paper flew out of the window. The three remaining girls looked sadly at it, and then left.

* * *

**SO, what do you think? I hope you liked it, and I hope you found it as a certain consolation that a part of Itachi still lives on! ;) Review! **

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaara and Itachi's Devil**


	36. XXXVI

**Okay, so I'm not good at keeping my promises… But at least it happened within the day, right? ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and whomever he got help from with making the splendid phenomenon.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko.**

**ENJOY!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 36: Battling**

_One month and a week later:_

The war had begun. Everything was a mess. But the worst part for Hina was that she wasn't out there, knowing what happened. Ami and Chieko were. It was all wrong. She had no idea how they were doing, but Zetsu had stopped by the day before, telling her that the two girls were fully and completely alive and unharmed, just some bruises.

Hina looked into the big mirror. She had yet to get a stomach, but smiled every time she saw her still flat one. She was so happy. A piece of Itachi was still alive within her. Not just her heart, but something _living_ and growing that would once take form of a kid, and maybe a good-looking kid at that.

She always frowned, thinking about the sex. She had no preferences and only hoped it'd be well. If it wasn't, she'd fix it somehow. But something died inside her, thinking about the fact that it wasn't abnormal to lose ones first child. She couldn't think about that. Then she'd break down.

Now she had something to live for. She smiled, and then frowned, thinking about the war. She was no longer in the hideout. She had found a great place under the water near it. She loved the rush of the river above her, feeling at much peace. It had been Ami's idea, and it was a bit brilliant. It crept Hina and Chieko out that Ami could figure something like that out…

* * *

Hina was eating breakfast the next day when Zetsu finally showed up. "There you are! Are they okay?" she asked, wanting to know.

"_Ami and Chieko are fine. However, not mentally. Deidara is pretty hurt. He withdrew not too long ago, but Ami can't find him, so she's pretty upset_," Zetsu said.

"Then why don't you find him?" Hina asked.

"**Don't you think we tried?**" he asked with a snarl.

"_Now, now, calm down. We're still looking, and we won't give up until we find him. But we should go back and check on them_," Zetsu said and turned to leave.

"_Oh, and by the way, what they say about pregnancy is true; you get a stronger light in your eyes_," he said and then left.

Hina frowned. "Poor Cookie," she said to herself and hoped with all her heart that Deidara was still alive.

She then finished her breakfast before taking up Minato's old book. Her heart was halfway stabbed when she remembered the day when she was sitting in the living-room, reading the same book and Itachi came in asking her what she was reading and the shock on his face when he found out that Jiraiya wrote it. Tears pressured her eyes and the ache in her lost heart started again. She bit her lip at everything she lost. She couldn't stand it if Ami or Chieko had to go through the same.

Then she remembered; there was someone who had gone through the same. Hina felt the urge to leave to Amegakure. She wanted to talk to Konan. Her friend. But she had to wait. She had to tell Zetsu and he wouldn't be back before the passing of two days. The time would go slow.

* * *

Ami was running and fast at that. Where the hell could Deidara be? Had he gone and gotten himself eaten or something? Her heart was beating fast, and not just because she was running so hurriedly. She had a bad feeling about this. She just wouldn't believe it. No matter how high the possibility of finding Deidara dead, if she found him at all, she would not admit to herself. She would search and never give up before she looked into his vivid, blue eyes.

Then she stopped dead. She felt his chakra. She smiled, but it soon faded as she realized how weak it actually was. She ran faster in the direction of where the chakra came from, and saw him sitting on a branch on his knees, looking at a man, ready to kill him. The man was small, and Ami recognized him as the Tsuchikage.

He was about to blow something, but Ami raised her soaring flames and shot them towards the old, small man like the tongue of a snake. Deidara immediately turned and Ami shot towards him in full speed, and before the blonde could say anything, Ami had thrown him over her shoulder and dragged him as far away as she could in that small amount of time. And it was pretty far.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ami asked silently.

"Fighting," Deidara said, looking down at her from where he was hanging over her shoulder.

"Nah-ah, you were dying," Ami pointed out annoyed.

"And?" Deidara asked, just as annoyed.

"What do you mean, 'and'?" Ami snapped.

"So what?" Deidara said simply.

"You think it's 'so what' that you were dying?" Ami asked, her voice slightly raised.

"Yes," Deidara stated.

"Wow, you're stupider than I ever thought you were," Ami said with a sigh.

"What?" Deidara asked with narrowed eyes.

"You would kill me if you died, are you aware of that?" Ami asked.

Deidara went silent.

"But I suppose you're okay with that," Ami said coldly.

Deidara took a deep breath. "I don't want you to die, no," he said.

"Then don't you die," Ami replied.

"I wouldn't want to hurt you, but I will do things my way, and you should already know this," Deidara stated.

"Well, I guess I'm not as smart as you give me credit for," Ami said coolly.

"No? Okay," Deidara said, just as chilled.

The two of them went silent for a while. Then Ami stopped and put Deidara down. He couldn't even stand. She sat down beside him and looked around, very much on alert. Then she smiled.

"Cozy," she said half-loud, half-silent.

Chieko appeared from the shadows of the trees and hurried over to Deidara's bloody body.

"Where's Sasori?" Ami asked Chieko as the tall brownhaired girl started healing Deidara.

"He's standing guard. This is bad. I'm getting too exhausted and cannot keep healing everyone. And people are getting closer to finding me, and when they do, Sasori won't be enough. You know this," Chieko said calmly.

Deidara looked into the face of Chieko. "Then why are you helping me?" he asked.

"You are much more important to me than either of the Akatsuki, if you don't count Ami or Sasori… or Hina. And you're important to Ami, so that's why I prioritize you," Chieko said with a soft smile.

Ami sighed. "Maybe we should withdraw?" she suggested.

"Sasori has already suggested this to Madara, but the old prune won't even listen," Chieko said angrily.

"Well. His doom," Ami said.

"Yeah. And even though we have a lot of supposedly dead people on our team, it shouldn't mean we will win," Chieko said.

"Ah, I wish Hina was here," Ami said.

"Yeah, she'd be so angry at Madara she would've killed him herself," Chieko said and the two girls laughed, while Deidara was his usual self.

* * *

**What'cha think? I hope you liked it! And please review! And might I just add, there are only three more chapters to go before the story will end. So, be happy! –Yet sad. ;)**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaara and Itachi's Devil**


	37. XXXVII

**I am so, so, so sorry that I haven't updated before now! And not even a long chapter! I swear to you, I will add the next chapter before this Tuesday! I promise! And this is the third-last chapter I'll be adding!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe, nor will I ever.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko as well as the new character, Masaru.**

**Thanks to:**

_Chocoholic93_

**And**

_Cheetay_

**ENJOY!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 37: Once again; some bad news**

Hina jumped up the moment Zetsu walked into the cave two days later.

"How is Deidara?" she asked immediately.

"**He's** **fine. Chieko healed him after Ami found him. They're fine. Sasori too**," Zetsu said tiredly.

"Are you okay?" Hina asked.

"_Yes, thank you_," he said.

"Good. Well I have something I have to tell you," Hina said, and Zetsu looked up.

"_Yes?_" he asked.

"I need to leave to Amegakure, so please tell the others I'm fine, should the battle be done before I'm back," Hina said.

"**And in the meantime?**"

"Keep telling them I'm fine and that I'm still in the cave. Don't mention Amegakure before it's necessary," Hina said.

"**Are you sure?**"

"Yes, and keep checking in on the cave every second day like normal," Hina said.

"_Then it's all good_," Zetsu said, and he left again.

Hina had already packed her things and took on a big coat, and not the Akatsuki one. She got out of the cave and into the water, her belly kicking vividly. Hina laughed slightly and got out of the water. She was sure the baby would like water. Hina was dry the moment she got out of the water.

But then she remembered; Kisame. Why hadn't she asked if Kisame was all right? She suddenly felt extremely anxious, but she couldn't possibly wait another couple of days. Hina looked up to the sky and hoped Kisame was okay. She then started running. She knew the running would be great for the baby as it would grow stronger every minute. But she got so easily tired so in the end she always ended up with using the wind to carry her away.

* * *

Ami punched down another ninja and looked around for Deidara who was on the other side of the field, getting the ANBU's away from Chieko. They had figured it out. They knew Chieko was the one who healed the Akatsuki. Chieko wasn't weak either, so she did manage to get them away from her. The Akatsuki were on their way to back them up, but that would probably use some strengths as well. But a lot of previously dead people had come to their rescue.

Madara knew just how valuable Chieko was to the Akatsuki as the one who kept them alive, so Kabuto wouldn't have to bring them back from the dead as well. Sasori just then stabbed a man with his poisonous sting and the man quickly faded. Chieko smiled at him as the ANBU's had withdrawn.

"Thank you guys," she said, but her eyes lingered at Sasori who gave her one of his very rare smiles.

Ami and Deidara exchanged a look, but it were different emotions.

Ami was all 'AW!' while Deidara was all 'come _on_'.

Then Kisame came out of the trees and shouted: "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you, hm," Deidara said.

Kisame sent him a deadly look.

"Shut it Deidara. Yeah, we're fine," Sasori said to Kisame.

Kisame nodded and took a deep breath.

"What is it?" Chieko asked.

"Hina would surely kill me should anything happen to her best friends," Kisame said, flashing a grin.

Chieko smiled.

"You got that right," Ami said with the same grin as Kisame.

Deidara and Sasori both rolled their eyes.

* * *

Hina smiled as she saw the village Amegakure. She really looked forward to seeing Konan again, but she still wondered how Kisame and, now that one day had passed, the rest of them were doing. She then reached the gates of the village and wasn't surprised when she saw no one was there to guard the gates, or that there were no villagers. She sighed and walked towards the tower on the end in endless silence where she knew Konan would be.

Hina hurried through the eerie village and into the building, up the stairs, through the corridor and opened the door to where she could feel traces of chakra. But when she opened the room, all she saw was darkness. She looked around and made a handsign and flames reached wherever they could.

Hina blinked. The room was completely naked. Only a fireplace with two chairs was in the middle of the room. But the chairs weren't some nice, comfy ones, but completely naked chairs made of normal wood. Hina frowned. The leaders of Akatsuki really didn't spoil themselves.

Then Hina heard something. Footsteps. She turned on the spot and looked out into the corridor, her heartbeat racing. She then let wind surround her and in the blink of an eye, and even faster, she was standing in the corridor, her hand holding the neck of a young man. The man looked scared at her, and Hina frowned, but let him go.

"Who are you?" she asked harshly.

"Masaru," he said with a shaky voice, massaging his throat.

"And why are you here?" Hina snapped.

"Because Konan-sama told me to keep the fort safe," Masaru said.

"Oh yeah? And what are you to her?" Hina asked, the words having a slightly different meaning to the boy, than what she meant.

"Well, I do admire her, but I don't think she thought of me in that way," Masaru said.

"Not emotionally. Why would she trust you?" Hina asked impatiently, not noticing how Masaru spoke of Konan in past tense.

"Because she had no one else to turn to after Pein died who could watch the fort," Masaru said.

"Oh? Okay. But where is Konan, then?" Hina asked, now smiling.

Masaru looked really serious.

"What is it?" Hina asked, losing the smile.

"You mean you don't know?" Masaru asked.

"Know what?" Hina asked.

"Konan's dead," Masaru said with a small voice.

Hina blinked and then felt her heart make a painful throb. "W-what?" she stuttered, swallowing and pressing the tears back.

"How come you didn't know?" Masaru asked.

"Well, I don't know!" Hina exploded.

She slipped down to the floor and breathed in and out. This pain couldn't be good for the baby.

"But I thought she was a traitor. Madara said so!" Masaru said, looking down at Hina.

The latter looked up immediately and in an instant she was standing right next to Masaru.

"Madara?" she asked surprised.

"Yes. He's the one who killed her," Masaru said, looking confused.

Hina got a pained look on her face. "Dammit," she said and turned on her heel, needing to reach back to the fight before something really bad happened.

* * *

**Now, how did you like it? I hope you did! Now, look forward to the next chapter! And please review!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaara and Itachi's Devil**


	38. XXXVIII

**New chapter! And as I said: before the end of Tuesday! ^^ GAH! This is the very last chapter! Should you not count the epilogue, of course! One last chapter is going to be added in a few days time. Maybe it will end before New Year's Eve, so you can all enjoy the last of this story this year! ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe.**

**Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko.**

**Thanks to:**

_Cheetay_

**ENJOY!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 38: Getting away**

Hina had gotten back to the cave in less time than healthy for her and the little baby. She kept soothing the seemingly afraid kid inside her stomach. She knew she would reach Zetsu before he showed up, as she had asked him to keep doing. And she was right. Not ten minutes later, Zetsu appeared in the cave.

"How is the battle going?" Hina asked.

"_Ah, you're back! How are you feeling, my big friend_," Zetsu said happily.

Hina rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. But Konan is dead. I just found out. I don't know how though, and it really bugs me. Something tells me she didn't die peacefully," Hina said slowly.

Zetsu nodded. "**I didn't know she was dead**," he said.

Hina nodded slightly. "It will come as a shock to all the members of the Akatsuki," she said slowly, "But back to my question?"

"**They're all still fine, but Chieko has been removed from battle as she was the most sought out target for the enemies**," Zetsu said.

Hina understood that.

"_That would be all_," Zetsu said, "_But shall I now forget that you have been in Amegakure_?"

"Yes," Hina said with a small smile.

Zetsu nodded and then he left. Hina waited thirty minutes and then she too disappeared. She was going to battle.

* * *

Deidara ripped an arm from one of the enemies. He looked at the woman who had tried to kill him with a kunai.

"You think I'm that simple to kill, hm?" he asked and then he took the kunai and stabbed her.

"I'm not you, yeah," he said and let go of the dead body.

He then dodged another attack from another woman.

"Seriously," he said and vanished and showed up on the other side of the girl, stabbing her to death as well.

"Women, hm," he said and turned.

And his victory smile vanished in an instant; Ami was standing there.

"Well, you're not a normal woman," Deidara said quickly.

Ami walked towards him with threatening steps.

"Sorry," he said quickly and backed away, getting ready for a punch.

But then Ami stopped. She stopped dead. She looked at a spot behind Deidara, who turned immediately.

"Hina!" Ami shrieked and ran over to her friend, Deidara right behind her.

Hina smiled at them. "I'm glad you're okay," she said.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" Ami exclaimed.

"Shh," Hina said quickly.

Ami bit her lip.

"I need to tell you something. You and Chieko," Hina said, and Ami sighed.

She knew Hina wouldn't have come out of the cave unless it was extremely important. Ami nodded and took Hina's arm, and Deidara took the other.

"You know, just because I'm pregnant, doesn't mean I won't be able to take care of myself," Hina said through gritted teeth.

"You came out of the cave, and therefore I get to decide that," Ami said calmly, and Hina sighed.

"Fine," the latter said.

* * *

The three reached the place Chieko was with no disruptions or problems whatsoever. Chieko seemed to halfway choke when she saw Hina there. She jumped up and helped the girl to sit down.

"Look! I'm pregnant, not immobile!" Hina snapped.

Chieko raised her eyebrows and looked at Deidara and Ami. Ami smiled innocently and Chieko sighed.

"What did you need to tell us?" Ami asked Hina, who looked up at the two girls with sadness in her eyes.

"What is it?" Chieko asked immediately.

The two girls didn't know what to think at the sad look in Hina's eyes, and they immediately looked at her stomach.

"The baby-?"

"The baby is fine," Hina said calmly, "But Konan's dead."

Chieko and Ami both looked thunderstruck. Sasori, who had been sitting calmly by the entrance looked behind himself and Deidara even looked shocked.

"But… how?" Chieko asked, tears filling her eyes.

"Madara killed her," Hina said slowly.

Ami choked on something. Deidara laid an arm around her shoulders and turned her into his embrace. Ami immediately started shaking, grabbing Deidara's coat. Hina looked at the image in front of her, and she couldn't help but feeling a tingle of jealousy towards them. The fact that they still had each other made Hina as happy as it made her sad. She couldn't bare to look at them without thinking of Itachi and how he would've held around her.

But Chieko seemed to understand this. Ami would too, if she paid attention, but Hina couldn't blame her at all for that. Hina wouldn't have paid attention if she had lost Deidara and was the one pregnant with his child, learning that Konan was dead and that Hina still had Itachi to comfort her. But Hina felt guilty as well when she thought about it.

"What do we do?" Chieko asked, and Hina was happy to look away from the still hugging couple.

"That's up to you, but I'm not gonna stay behind in the Akatsuki. I'm leaving to another place where I can be safe. I cannot live in an organization where the people in it turn on and kill each other," Hina said.

"So you're out?" Ami asked, turning to Hina.

"Definitely," Hina said.

"I'm with you," Chieko said.

"Me too," Ami said.

"Well, if my girl is going, I guess so am I," Deidara said.

Sasori had very silently sneaked up on them and said from the side of Chieko: "Me too."

Hina smiled to them. "You really should consider the fact that Madara might kill us. I'm pretty sure he has Nagato's Rinnegan," she said.

"We know. We guessed that when you said Konan was dead," Chieko said.

"No, we didn't," Ami said silently and Hina couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, if you're sure," she said and all four of them nodded.

Hina smiled. "Well then. Any idea of where we could go?" she asked.

They all went rather silent.

"I do," a known voice said.

Hina turned and saw Kisame standing in the opening. She smiled to him.

"But you look up to Madara," she said grimly.

"But I don't care about him," Kisame said calmly and walked towards Hina, who smiled.

"True," she said, jumped up and ran over to him and gave him a hug.

"Ah, Lu! You're breaking my back!" he exclaimed.

"I am _not_ that heavy!" Hina yelled at him after she let him go.

"Good old Lu," Kisame said.

"And neither am I OLD!" Hina exclaimed.

"Fine, fine," Kisame said and turned to the others. "Hormones," he said, and Hina punched him while the others laughed.

"So where to?" Ami asked who also trusted Kisame.

"A place Itachi found very dear to him," Kisame said with a grin.

Hina blinked.

"He didn't really trust me, no, but he took me to that place when we had to hide. It's beautiful," Kisame said.

They all looked at each other and in one moment, they were all gone.

* * *

**Did you like it? YAY! Oh, you didn't? Sorry! It's quite hard to hear you. It might be easier, though, if you write it down! ^^**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaara and Itachi's Devil**


	39. EPILOGUE

**AH! THE STORY IS COMPLETE! And I still feel happy about it, even though I finished it last year… ;) ANYWAYS!**

**Disclaimer: (OH MY! This is going to be the last time I do this in this story!) I do not own the Naruto universe, nor will I ever. (IT ACTUALLY HURT SAYING THAT NOW!)**

**Claimer: I do own Ami *sigh*, Hina *hic* and Chieko *bwæææ!***

**Thanks to:**

_Cheetay_

_lithiumxx_

**ENJOY THE VERY LAST CHAPTER OF THE UNINTENDED TRUTH!**

**

* * *

**

**Epilogue**

_Four months and nineteen days later:_

Hina was soaked in sweat. Ami and Kisame were both grasping each arm.

"You're doing great, Crazy, just keep going," Ami said with a comforting smile.

"Just keep breathing, Lu. You know he'd never forgive me should you die," Kisame said.

Hina laughed slightly at this.

"Come on, Crazy," Chieko said from down with her legs.

"STOP NAGGING!" Hina bellowed and screamed loudly.

And so did something else. Not two minutes later was Hina sitting propped up in the bed, her arms around a small baby with black streaks of hair.

"Well, he definitely has his father's eyes," Ami said.

Hina rolled hers.

"Come on, guys. I'm sure Hina would like some time alone," Chieko said and Hina smiled gratefully to her.

The three of them all walked out, and Hina could hear Deidara's and Sasori's voices asking how she was and the approving answers from her best friends. Kisame grinned at her before he closed the door behind her. Hina looked down on the boy in her arms, tears of joy in her eyes. It was just too much for her, but the feeling was so great. She felt the tears flowing down her cheeks. She then kissed the head of the little baby.

"Can you see this?" she asked into the air.

She then started crying, just like a baby, holding her arms closely around _his_ baby.

* * *

Two days later, Hina was sitting outside looking at the waterfall making a lovely rainbow in the setting sun with the thick forest around her. She was holding the small boy in her arms wrapped in a red blanket. She was thinking of how everything had changed so rapidly, and how happy she was that she and her friends had all escaped Madara's claws before he turned everyone into pawns. Her relationship with the ones staying with her was so strong, and she had a brother who watched over her wherever she went.

She really loved Kisame for his protective personality, but now it was not necessary anymore as both Madara and Kabuto were defeated, and the world was left at peace. Ninjas had been hunting them for a while, but in the end they all just gave up, realizing there was nothing they could do to catch them as they had no idea of where they were hiding. Itachi's hiding place had really been a great place to them.

She smiled down at her baby, remembering the moment Chieko and Sasori had finally showed their true feelings for each other. Everyone had been so trhilled when they announced that they were together. Meaning, Chieko announced they were together. Everyone was getting slightly exasperated that they still hadn't shown their feelings for one another, so it was a relief when they finally came clean. Hina herself had decided that no man would be good enough for her anymore, because she would never find a person with as pure a heart as Itachi. She still missed him.

Well, it was no wonder; it had only been around nine months since he died. She didn't even know what date the day had been. She had absolutely no idea. Her memory had blocked it all, to spare her of the pain. But she wanted to remember. In the later years, she found out that he died the fourteenth of December. The day after her birthday. She couldn't understand how she could have overlooked her birthday. But she did. Now she was only sitting by the waterfall, looking at her child.

She then noticed Chieko, Ami, Kisame, Deidara and Sasori coming up from behind her. Chieko and Ami sat down beside her. Deidara leaned against a tree while Sasori and Kisame were standing behind them. Ami smiled to Hina and patted the baby on his head.

Chieko sighed. "Well, now that drama is over and done with," she said with a grin.

"Yeah," Hina said happily.

They all went silent for a while.

Then Ami smiled and asked: "What are you gonna call him?"

Hina smiled softly and looked down at the boy in her arms.

"Uchiha … Itachi."

* * *

**I almost feel empty for it to be over! Oh, my! Oh well. I will just have to survive this! Thank you all to my faithful readers and all you new ones as well! And it's never too late to leave a review! NEVER! I love you guys! All of you who have read this story! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I LOVE YOU! AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! YAAAAY!**

**PS: The place I see before my eyes that Hina and the rest now lives in, is the place where the Disney movie 'Tarzan' ends with him roaring and Jane at his side. Just so you know! ^^**

**SAYONARA!**

**You know you love me  
XOXO**

**-Gaara and Itachi's Devil**


End file.
